AKSTU stages Secretariat dharna

Moves are afoot to move education from the Concurrent List to the Union List and bring it under direct control of the Union government, Rajya Sabha MP P.P. Suneer has alleged.

He was speaking after inaugurating a dharna organised by the All Kerala School Teachers’ Union (AKSTU) in front of the Secretariat here on Wednesday.

Mr. Suneer further alleged that attempts were on to grab the State’s rights under the pretext of the National Education Policy. Referring to the Union government withholding education funds meant for the States, he said this was being done with the objective of implementing its communal agenda and get States to do its bidding.

The dharna raised various demands such as pay revision, withdrawal of contributory pension, review by Kerala of the Supreme Court ruling on the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET), and protection for teachers till the higher secondary level.

The AKSTU estimates that nearly 60,000 teachers may be affected by the SC ruling on TET.

AKSTU president K.K. Sudhakaran presided over the dharna, in which general secretary O.K. Jayakrishnan spoke.