Failure to acquire degree due to insufficient centers: Untrained teachers

The Bill offers untrained teachers time  till March 31, 2019 to obtain the degrees in order to continue in their present services as teachers and the All Garo Hills SSA School Teachers Association (AGHSSASTA) has raised concern over it.

The AGHSSASTA blamed the state government as well as the 24 elected representatives from Garo Hills for failing to set up sufficient training centers despite repeated demands being made. It said that if the government had heeded its demands the majority of the teachers could have cleared the course by now.

“Now we have only two years to clear the diploma course or our services will be terminated. The state government was supposed to facilitate each and every district with these training centers but it failed to do so despite repeated demands,” the Publicity Secretary of AGHSSASTA, Tronament D Sangma said.

At present, there are only two such training centers in the entire Garo Hills. While one is located at Rongkhon near Tura in West Garo Hills, the other is at Baghmara in South Garo Hills District.

In the past, the teachers on several occasions had raised the demand for setting up of training centers under National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in all districts of Garo Hills to enable them to obtain the degree.

A memorandum was also recently submitted to the Directorate of Education Research and Training (DERT) in Shillong where they informed that while such centers were functioning in West and South Garo Hills, the same was yet to be set up in other districts of Garo Hills.

Despite the number of appeals and demands the government continues to remain adamant and is yet to act on the plight of the teachers.