Govt is delaying promotions of college teachers owing to participation in nation strikes: KPCTA

Kannur: The state govt has allegedly delayed the promotion of teachers working at aided colleges under the Kannur University due to their participation in the nationwide strikes held on Jan 8 and Nov 26 in 2020.
Leaders of the Kerala Private College Teacher Association (KPCTA), an organisation of aided college teachers, alleged that the Deputy Director of Collegiate Education, Kozhikode, put the files related to the promotion on hold, expressing disagreement with granting promotion to teachers who participated in the strikes. The Kannur University vice-chancellor and the university syndicate did not take a stance in favour of the teachers. With this, the promotion procedures came to a halt, affecting hundreds of teachers, KPCTA leaders said in a press note.
According to KPCTA, the grade promotions are based on service duration. The strike day was not considered as a working day due to the lack of a govt order. As a result, promotion applications of the teachers who were absent that day were not processed.
KPCTA termed this stand, as "anti-labour". Both the state govt and the university are jointly adopting an anti-worker stance, said KPCTA state president Premachandran Keezhoth. He further urged the university to issue an order immediately to ensure the timely promotion of the teachers.