KOTTAYAM: Onam has not brought any joy to the 82 alternative school teachers in Idukki district as they have not received their salaries since April.
Most of them work in the tribal hamlets and interiors of Idukki district drawing a meagre Rs 5,000 per month.
The alternative schools (Ekadhyapaka Vidyalayam) were started in the state in 2000 to facilitate the education of students who could not pursue their studies due to various reasons.
“Our Onam celebrations have been hit due to the non-payment of salaries for the last five months,” Mr Muralidharan, a teacher at the MG LP school, Olakkayam, Edamalakudy tribal panchayat, told DC.
Ms Jayalakshmi of the MG LP school, Nellipetty, said, “We are working now because of our commitment to teach the children. From March this year, we have not been getting salaries,” she said.
The education department authorities in Idukki said that salaries had not been paid due to the government’s delay in sanctioning the funds.
“We haven’t received the allotments so far. It is for the government to do it,” said Ms P.K. Pankajakshi who holds the charge of Idukki DEO.
