Teacher with spinal cord injury faces repeated transfers in Kerala

Kanhangad: When this teacher gets into an auto-rickshaw at the school gate, fellow teachers or students rush to help her. She cannot take a single step without a crutch. Her spinal cord is injured, and her physical disability exceeds 60 per cent. This is not considered in the education department’s approach. She is being sent to her third school in two and a half months. This harsh treatment is being faced by KV Sulekha in Kanhangad.

She is an art teacher at Hosdurg Government Higher Secondary School. She was transferred to Hosdurg from Kakkad Government Higher Secondary School at the start of this academic year. Now, there is another transfer during the Onam season. She has been transferred to Thrikaripur Government Higher Secondary, which requires a bus journey of about an hour. Sulekha has only one daughter, who is studying in the ninth grade. She lives in the quarters at Kanhangad.

“The sadness is not in the change of place, but in the transfer order that came two and a half months after the start of the academic year,” said Sulekha.

While teaching at Pallikkara Government Higher Secondary School in January 2020, she fell during a home-visit programme for tenth-grade students and injured her spine. Her spinal cord was also affected. She underwent treatment for several months. When she returned to work, she was transferred to Kakkad School.

After persistent petitions, she was transferred to Hosdurg School in Kanhangad. She did not even have time to sigh in relief before the next transfer order arrived. Even after presenting the certificate issued by the Medical Board of Kanhangad District Hospital, she was shown no leniency. Sulekha is a recipient of the Guru Shreshta Award for the best teacher.