Forum condemns suspension of schoolteacher for criticising State government’s education policies

Makkal Kalvi Kootiyakkam, an education forum based in Madurai, has condemned the suspension of a government schoolteacher in Chengalpattu by the school education department officials.

The forum condemned the suspension order as they claimed that the teacher was only vocal about the issues faced by the students in government schools.

S. Umamaheshwari, a schoolteacher at the government higher secondary school, Nellikuppam in Chengalpattu district was suspended recently by the education department for her social media posts criticizing Tamil Nadu government’s various policies pertaining to the education of students. As she had always been vocal about the children and their welfare, the suspension order was against an individual’s freedom to raise his/her opinion, the statement of the forum added.

The statement compared the education department officials to police personnel who illegally confiscated Ms. Umamaheshwari’s mobile phone which they returned afterwards.

They had also threatened her to delete the posts that criticised the State government, the statement said.

“While the teacher had spent her own money summing up to lakhs for the school and children’s welfare, how is it an offence when such a teacher who cares so much for the children talks about the faults in the system,” the forum questioned.

The forum condemned the school education department’s order asking her not to move anywhere outside the district. The forum demanded an immediate revocation of the suspension order issued to Ms. Umamaheshwari.