SHILLONG: With the state set to celebrate Teachers’ Day on Wednesday, many ills plague the state’s education sector, the most important being untrained teachers.
Adding to the problem is the apathy of the government to address the grievances of teachers, especially payment of salary.
The Shillong Times spoke to educationists and teachers, all of whom suggested a change of approach.
Educationist and former principal of Shillong College MPR Lyngdoh said teachers should be given salary regularly “as delay affects their livelihood”.
On training of teachers, Lyngdoh said, “Untrained teachers are a big problem here… Training is very important and the government too insists on trained teachers. During recruitment, it should be seen that teachers are trained right from lower primary to the high level.”
Toki Blah, former bureaucrat and president of ICARE, said, “Teachers like all of us have expectations, rights and responsibilities. There has to be a policy where pay of the teachers should be standardised – you have one school that pays Rs 2,000 and another that pays Rs 30,000.”
Blah said the state lacks qualified teachers and it is a “big problem”.
“There are no strict criteria for recruiting teachers. Anyone who has passed Class X, especially in rural areas, is thought fit enough to teach science, English and Mathematics,” he added.
Blah observed that teachers mould the next generation and educational institutions must focus on quality.
Speaking on the education policy, which is ready for Cabinet approval, Blah said, “Definitely, we have one step forward with the education policy. At least, we have a policy, there will be fault lines, we will adjust, amend and then correct them as time passes by.”
To describe the problems of the education sector, one can quote Martin Luther King Jr who said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
Speaking to The Shillong Times, president of Khasi Jaintia Deficit School Teachers’ Association ED Nongsiang said, “We don’t have any intentions to agitate or to refrain ourselves from celebrating Teachers’ Day as demands pertaining to the teachers is progressing. Teachers will celebrate in their respective schools.”
He added that the organisation will give its moral support to SSA teachers who haven’t received their salary and are planning to agitate.
There are numerous problems faced by teachers apart from the salary and education policy issues and there are no service rules.
“We have approached the government and we were told that the government is forming a committee to consider the matter,” Nongsiang said, adding on the part of the deficit school teachers, there are expectations to implement the recommendation of the Fifth Pay Commission, it is not just the pay there are also conditions of retirement benefits, medical reimbursement, Assured Career Progressive Scheme.
On training of teachers in secondary and higher secondary, he said there is no such recruitment for untrained teachers.
Organising cum publicity secretary of Meghalaya Upper Primary School Teachers Association EG War said the organisation had met the chief minister and submitted a memorandum. He had asked the teachers to meet him after the by-election.
“In previous years, we did not celebrate nor participated in Teachers’ Day celebration as we felt we should allow the new government to work. There were other groups who decided to boycott the celebrations, we don’t want to take any action so far,” he said.
While speaking of their demands on the upgradation of 844 schools to either deficit system or deficit pattern, War said, “It is better for the government to start with deficit pattern and to go step by step.”
As for the salary of teachers, War said, “It all depends on Sub-Divisional Educational Officer (SDEOs). There are SDEOs who work diligently to ensure that the teachers get their salary monthly following the sanction given by the government.”
On trained teachers, he said teachers were asked to train and complete their Diploma in Elementary Education programme.
Commenting on the education policy, he said, “It all depends on the Cabinet and we have seen the education policy and given solution. On our part we did give our suggestions.”