SHILLONG: Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui has pulled up government school teachers and maintained that the Education Department is not an employment agency.
Speaking on the occasion of Teachers’ Day celebration at U Soso Tham Auditorium on Wednesday, Rymbui said the department is not an employment agency and there was a huge shortfall of trained teachers in schools.
“As of now, the Education Department is like an employment agency and it cannot provide quality education,” he said.
Stating that the Education Department has limitations and that the state government has diagnosed the problem and will try to find the solutions, Rymbui queried, “What is the solution? We may have to close down some of the single-digit schools. We will rationalise the schools on the basis of teacher-student ratio but within the ambit of RTE.”
“We will do that and we have to as there is no way out if we want to make the Education Department a department that enlightens and gives quality education to the state and not act as an employment agency of the state,” he added.
Throwing a challenge to government schools to perform better, Rymbui pointed to the below par performance of these schools in the state which are often treated as ‘not good enough’ and looked down upon by the society even though government schools have trained teachers who are well paid.
The minister stated that despite hefty fees, most of the people rush to private schools.
He asked teachers to introspect and find out the gaps in the teaching-learning process.
“The government spends not less than Rs 1,500 per month per child to provide education. I request teachers of government schools to be dedicated for the betterment of education in government schools. The year 2018 is a challenge. I want the government schools to better their performance in the SSLC examinations next year and not be happy with the 30-40 pass percentage like they did this year,” Rymbui said.
While admitting that teachers face the problem of “same work, different pay scales and of promotions not given on time”, Rymbui said, “Because of this teachers have to raise their voices to air their grievances and to get their dues. It is not that the Government does not recognise the problems faced by the teachers.”
He added that the government has from time to time tried to enhance the salary of teachers. The Assured Career Progressive Scheme is also implemented and the government will also extend the Fifth Pay Commission to the deficit teachers, but rued that 95 per cent of the budget of the Education Department is spent on salaries.
“Other than drawing their salaries teachers need to be trained and familiarise themselves with the fast changing world. Teachers have to go for national and international exchange programmes and exposure trips,” he said.
Small state, many schools & less resources
Pointing to the challenges for the Education Department, Rymbui said the state has 14,700 schools which is the highest among small states coupled with the problem of having many categories of schools.
“We have over 55,000 teachers and the average number of students per school is 40-50 whereas in other state is 150,” he said.
The government is functioning on a tight budget and faces challenges even in repair and maintenance of the school buildings most of which are in dilapidated condition.
“The cost per student that government spends is very high. That is why with less resources, it is very difficult and it is almost impossible to fulfil all that is needed for the welfare of the teachers,” he said.
He informed that there are about 9 lakh students in the state and 55,000 teachers with 95 per cent of the budget spent on teachers’ salary. Rymbui also admonished teachers who would commute “up and down” from Shillong to other rural areas where they have to teach saying they are left with little energy to teach. “Instead, they should stay in the quarters provided by the government in the rural areas.”
