Thiruvananthapuram: Unaided school managements that refuse to remunerate teachers according to the minimum wage set by the Government may soon have to face up to Rs. 25,000 and a year of imprisonment. The bill, expected to be presented before the upcoming session of the Assembly, will soon be considered by the cabinet and will become a law with stringent effects, according to the Education Minister C Raveendranath.
Over 3000 unaided schools function in the state under CBSE and ICSE syllabus patterns. Together they employ over 2.5 lakh people including the non teaching staff. More number of schools are located in the Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts.
The bill, which was drafted in 2014 but was subsequently buried, aims to empower the unaided teaching sector alleged to be under constant exploitation. Teachers who seek better working conditions or higher remuneration are often subjected to harassment or thrown out of work.
The new bill empowers the formation of a committee with one third members from the teaching community, one third from the school managements and the rest from civil society. This committee will be headed by a civil society member as chosen by the Government. This committee can revise the minimum wages according to the prevailing economic situations including inflation.
The salaries will have to be transferred electronically and must include travel allowance, gratuity, HRA and pension fund. The schools will have to maintain a register detailing the working hours and extra hours put in by the teachers. These records can be subject to inspection by a Government officer at any point of time. Disputes regarding remuneration will be handled by a special authority according to this bill.
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