Govt rolls out guidelines for provisional approval of aided school appointments

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Government has issued guidelines for implementing the Kerala High Court direction to provisionally approve the appointments made to vacancies in aided educational institutions during the period from November 18, 2018, to November 7, 2021.

The court, in its verdict last year, ordered the authorities to implement the reservation in jobs in favour of differently abled candidates that should have been extended to them during the period from 1996 to 2017. The same should be implemented with retrospective effect in appointments being made from November 18, 2018, onwards, it directed.

The Government, too, made it clear that the regular appointments made from November 2018, won’t be approved before first clearing the backlog in case of the reservation appointments.

The various school managers and the teachers who failed to get the appointment approvals moved the High Court, which, on March 13, directed the Government to provide provisional approval for regular appointments.

The government guidelines to implement the same are as follows-

• Of the vacancies arising in aided schools from November 2018 onwards, those for implementing job reservations for differently abled candidates with retrospective effect should be kept aside. The vacancies can be filled in accordance with the availability of eligible disabled candidates. They should be appointed by removing the teaching-non-teaching staff who are yet to get appointment approvals.

• The eligible persons who continue in such posts till the appointment of differently abled candidates can be extended provisional approval. They will be provided the salary as per the scale, including the allowance. However, their probation won’t be declared nor they will be given annual increments.

• The incumbent employees will be provided provisional approvals only if a copy of the application form sent by the school manager to the Employment Officer demanding qualified differently abled candidates for appointment to the posts, besides the details of such vacancies, are submitted and the veracity of the same is ensured. Those who are appointed to the vacancies, that arose between November 18, 2018, to November 7, 2021, even after the said period will be given provisional approval.

• The employees who lose jobs to accommodate persons with disabilities will have the right to reappointment as per their qualification with respect to General category vacancies arising at a later period in that school or other educational institutions under the same management. Priority will be given to appointments in the higher secondary and vocational higher secondary categories.

• If qualified differently abled candidates are not available for the reservation seat, the person continuing in that vacancy as a temporary staff can be given approval from the date he was appointed with retrospective effect.

• In the case of managements that do not prepare and submit the rosters related to appointments, the backlog cannot be assessed. Hence, the appointments in such schools will not get temporary approval.

• Appointments on a daily wage basis can be made in vacancies that have arisen after November 7, 2021. When the reservation norms for the differently abled are met, and if they are in order, those continuing in posts on a daily wage basis can be regularized from their date of appointment.

• If any of the appointments denied recognition so far becomes qualified for recognition as per this order, the Education Officers can reconsider their case even without the order of the appellate authorities.