Consensus reached in talks with minister; Govt seeks 45 days, UPST rank holders end protest

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Upper Primary School Teacher (UPST) Rank Holders Association has temporarily called off the protest it had been conducting in front of the Secretariat. The protest being staged for the past 17 days, ended following discussions with General Education Minister N Samsudheen.

The minister assured the rank holders that their demand to stop the PSC from issuing new notifications without reporting existing vacancies would be considered sympathetically. The government also said it would consider extending the validity of the rank list so that more candidates could be appointed when the list is nearing its expiry. The government informed the protesters that it needed 45 days to examine the demand to appoint PSC candidates to Head Teacher Vacancy (HTV) posts, as well as the demands related to the teacher-student ratio in government schools where teaching posts are being lost.

Representatives of the rank list association informed the minister that there were no UP-level teachers in model residential schools and fisheries schools. Based on this information, the minister instructed the Director of General Education (DGE) to examine the possibility of making appointments to these schools from the existing UP School rank lists of the respective districts and to take necessary action.

The protesters agreed to temporarily end the strike following the minister's assurance that, during this period, the government would examine the demands raised by them and implement those found favourable without delay. The meeting was also attended by senior officials, including DGE Snehal Kumar and Private Secretary Nisar H.