Teachers’ organisations, including the Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association and the National Teachers Union, stayed away from the second teachers’ cluster training held on Saturday.
The pro-Left teachers unions’ claim that the cluster training witnessed a good attendance was denied by the organisations owing allegiance to the Opposition.
The Kerala School Teachers’ Association alleged that the boycott was politically motivated. Teachers came forward to attend the cluster training even on the sixth working day owing to their commitment to students, it said in a statement.
A five-day vacation training for teachers had been completed as part of curriculum revision. The General Education department was also implementing cluster training and training in new technology, including artificial intelligence, as part of quality improvement programme, it pointed out.
The KPSTA, though, alleged that the training had been cobbled together for the sake of it. Conducted without a particular module or training materials, it was a failure, it alleged in a statement.
The High Court had ruled that there should be only five working days in a week. However, the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) had disregarded the ruling and organised the cluster on the sixth consecutive working day. This revealed the SSK’s anti-teacher position, the KSTA alleged.
It alleged that the government stance on regularising teacher appointments was a tactic with an eye on the elections. The government should come forward to pay benefits to teachers and other employees that it had withheld. These included DA arrears, pay revision arrears, next pay revision, and arrears of exam paper valuation, the association said.
Published – October 18, 2025 10:04 pm IST
