Pathanamthitta: The Education Department is allegedly trying to frame the school authorities after the suicide of the husband of a teacher, who has been denied her salary arrears of 12 years. The attempt now is to blame the school management for the delay in clearing the arrears. As part of this alleged move, officials from the Education Department hurriedly visited the school at Naranammoozhi on Monday, August 4. They took in writing that no application had been submitted to present the salary bill.

The current headmistress took charge of the school in June. Letters were sent to the District Education Office in June and on July 30, requesting to include the teacher's details in Spark (Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala), an integrated personnel, payroll, and accounts information system for all state government employees. A response was received on August 2.

The next day, the teacher's husband, Shijo, was found hanging. The department officials visited the school and took on record that the necessary documents for clearing the arrears were not presented after the suicide, and the prolonged denial of salary became a controversy.

Procedures to draw salary
Teachers' vacancies in schools arise due to various reasons: When a teacher retires from service, gets promoted, switches to another job, or resigns.

The District Educational Officer (DEO) should be informed within 15 days of the manager approving appointments in aided schools. The details are uploaded onto the Samanwaya portal. The DEO approves the appointment after considering the post's details and the strength of the students. Further procedures are often delayed on technical grounds at this stage. Even if all relevant documents are submitted, the trend of delaying appointments by pointing out loopholes exists at several places. Shortage of staff and transfers, too, often delay the appointment process.

Once the DEO approves the appointment, the headmaster/principal uploads the teacher's information onto Spark. This, however, requires the DEO's permission. Once uploaded, the salary bill is presented.

Until 2010, processes were approved in three months. Now, it drags on for years.

Timeline of a fatal apathy

• 2005: A teacher was appointed to fill a vacancy at the Upper Primary section of the Naranammoozhi school.
• 2007: A teacher, who joined the school in 2005, resigned after the divisions in the school were slashed.
• 2012: A teacher leaves the school after getting a PSC appointment.
• 2012 February: The above vacancy is filled with Lekha Raveendran, wife of the now-deceased Shijo of Vadakkecharuvil in Athikkayam. When the government set up a teachers' bank, the teacher who resigned following the decrease in divisions was erroneously included because the resignation documents had gone missing from the school.

The role of a few, including government officials, is suspected behind the inclusion of the resigned teacher in the bank. Meanwhile, the teacher joined BRC in Ranni and started drawing a salary. However, the individual went to the court, seeking appointment to the post to which Lekha was hired.

2013: Lekha and the school management approached the court against the individual. An official probe commission found a copy of the resignation letter and concluded that department officials were at fault for including the individual's name. The court ordered the return of the benefits received during this period. The school management did not object when the court was told of the inability to return such a huge amount. The court permits the individual to continue in the post. Meanwhile, the issue of non-payment of Lekha's salary reached the High Court.

2024: The High Court, on November 26, ruled in favour of Lekha, approving her appointment. The District Education Office in Pathanamthitta was directed to release Lekha's benefits in three months. When the directive was not implemented, Lekha's relatives approached General Education Minister V Sivankutty.

2025: The government, on January 17, ordered in writing to implement the High Court order. The file was closed on January 31 without initiating the necessary follow-up action.

2025 March: Lekha started getting the basic pay of 2012. However, the arrears and other benefits were not disbursed.