School Education department pleads inability to pay salary for two temporary teachers in Ramanathapuram district; students told to go to another school; parents seek Collector’s intervention

Parents seeking the appointment of permanent teachers for a government school at Sikkal in the Ramanathapuram district at the Collectorate on Thursday.

| Photo Credit: L. Balachandar

A group of parents submitted a memorandum to the District Collector Ramanathapuram seeking his intervention to post teachers for subjects like Economics, Commerce and Accountancy at a government school in Sikkal, Kadaladi block, as the plus-one students were directed to go to another school to learn these subjects as the salaries for two temporary teachers could not be paid.The memorandum that the parents gave to the Collector on Thursday stated that the School Education department officials had ‘directed’ the plus one students who had joined the newly introduced Commerce group at the Sikkal Government School to shift to another school to learn the special subjects.When asked about the reason given by the officials for such a move, it was said that the department had stated that they had no provision to pay the salaries for the two temporary teachers, a parent told The Hindu.The parents further said that the girl children could not travel to another school, as it was quite a distance. Some others said that it was unfair for the School Education department to state that they were unable to pay the salaries. “If they had informed us earlier, we might have admitted our children to another school. Joining another school, especially at this juncture, may not be feasible, as the schools had commenced regular classes 45 days ago,” they pointed out.Collector M. Sivaguru Prabhakaran, the parents said, listened to their grievance patiently and assured them to look into the issue by discussing it with the School Education department. “The Collector is our only hope,” they added.At a time when the government has been campaigning for children to study, especially encouraging drop-outs to join higher education, the inability to pay salaries for two teachers was unfair and disappointing, the parents said. Most of the children are first-generation students moving to a plus-one. “After introducing the commerce stream, the authorities’ directive has come as a shock,” they stressed. Published - July 16, 2026 08:21 pm IST