(UCAN): The Catholic bishops in the southern Indian state of Kerala have called on the state government to end discrimination against teachers in Church-run schools in appointments, salaries and other benefits.
The government, which was returned to power during the 2021 elections, has not yet fulfilled its promise to appoint teachers in Church-managed schools that receive financial aid from the state, leaving hundreds of eligible Catholic teachers jobless, according to Father Charles Leon, the secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s education commission.
The government “has been dilly-dallying when it comes to the appointment of teachers in Catholic schools since 2016,” Father Leon said.
“It has deprived jobs to hundreds of qualified young Catholics. But a more serious issue is that of thousands of children who are denied quality education,” he said.
Teachers in Church-run schools in all 32 dioceses across Kerala protested on March 10 under the Catholic Teachers Guild.
“We will continue with other protest programmes if the government fails to fulfill its promise and accord us our constitutional rights,” said C.T. Varghese, the guild’s general secretary.
Teachers also accused the government of creating hurdles in paying legitimate salaries, pensions and other benefits. Christian leaders staged a 14-day hunger strike in October 2020 demanding an end to discrimination in Church-run schools, especially in the appointment of teachers.
‘It has deprived jobs to hundreds of qualified young Catholics. But a more serious issue is that of thousands of children who are denied quality education’
Father Charles Leon
Ahead of the 2021 state elections, the government agreed to concede their demands. “But the government has not done anything other than make mere promises,” Varghese said.
The government blocked appointments in Catholic schools on the pretext that it has a pool of qualified teachers who will need to be appointed to vacant posts. “But our studies, based on government data, proved that no such pool exists,” he said.
The government again delayed appointments on grounds that it wanted to give priority to qualified people with physical limitations. “Now that excuse is also over as our schools too have recruited qualified handicapped people,” said Varghese.
The teachers’ guild has also vowed to intensify its protest until the government makes good on its promises.
Father Leon said that the Church is “solidly behind the teachers in their struggle for justice.”
He said, “We stand for providing good quality education to students in our schools,” appealing to the government to support the Church’s education efforts for the poor.
Kerala has 12,644 schools, of which 4,504 are government-run. The state funds 7,277 of them while 863 are privately managed.
The Christian community manages some 5,000 of the state-funded schools.
Christians form some 19 per cent of the state’s 33 million people but are considered socially influential. However, at national level, they are a minuscule minority forming only 2.3 per cent of 1.3 billion Indians.
