Teachers Day in this country has turned into an annual rigmarole. In Meghalaya teachers gear up for this auspicious day by staging protests against the Government for its failure to address their grievances. The Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA) has taken a tough stance this time around. Teachers in some of the leading colleges have been striking work for a while now. It appears that the Government takes these intermittent upheavals as inconsequential. Education in Meghalaya has suffered from the absence of a policy to guide its destiny. Education ministers in the past have tried to engage with the issue of having a coherent policy for the State. Several key players from the educational sectors have given their carefully considered views after a careful analysis of the situation. Civil society has also been asked to key in their inputs to the document. Many have done so with the firm belief that they are doing something worthwhile for the state of education in Meghalaya. Unfortunately, the Government has not shown the political will to take this forward. It’s a wasted effort for all concerned and creates a sense of frustration in citizens as they feel cheated. The ambivalence continues.
Education has always been a thorny issue in Meghalaya. Teachers fall into a range of categories in terms of how they are seen by the Government. Clearly there is need for some uniformity in this area. Some teachers cannot be more equal than others. And when the categorisation is linked to the pay packets of teachers then it obviously creates heartburns. A dissatisfied teacher cannot be a good teacher. This is but natural. The league of dissatisfied teachers in Meghalaya today is growing. We can well imagine how they would discharge their duties! There is a flip side here, though. We have heard of university teachers taking home a huge salary packet but without discharging their corresponding duties! This too is a reality and a cause for concern. Many heads of institutions rue the fact that teachers are unwilling to walk the extra mile to assist students who are weak in their studies or some who need special mentoring a la Aarakshan. There is a growing feeling today that even organisations like the MCTA tend to talk only about teachers’ rights but are silent on their responsibilities. They also do not seem to have a commitment to push through educational reforms that will benefit students. Education is more about students and less about teachers. At present it seems to be all about teachers and less about students’ concerns. Can we have some equilibrium here?