SHILLONG, Dec 14: The Congress on Tuesday questioned the state government notification that barred teachers from participating in active politics.
“The government move to prevent teachers from participating in politics is questionable. It is a convention in the state that the teaching community is given the freedom to be a part and parcel of active politics,” Congress leader, Ampareen Lyngdoh told reporters.
She said no wonders that questions will be asked when the government comes up with such a notification.
“There shouldn’t be a problem if the participation of teachers does not affect or disturb their teaching responsibilities,” Lyngdoh, who herself was a teacher before joining mainstream politics, said.
She said the electioneering process usually gathers momentum during winter vacation when the teachers are not burdened with official duties.
“I think the government should refrain from antagonizing a group of citizens saying you are, henceforth, barred from participating in active politics,” the Congress leader said.
She also said that the other aspect, which needs to be looked at, is if the government can issue an advisory of this nature if the teachers are not fully supported by it. She argued that they are free to do what they like during their vacations.
Stating that the teaching community is an unhappy lot for various reasons, Lyngdoh said another point relevant for a discussion or debate is if the government does not have control over private teachers.
“We need to find out if the government has complete control over teachers who get partial salaries from the government like deficit teachers or ad hoc teachers and if the UGC scale teachers are under the ambit of the government guidelines,” she said.
“It is not healthy to have a state advisory that comes in conflict with the rights of teachers. The UGC scale teachers have their own guidelines. Given the notification or diktat, questions will be asked on whether the government is authorised to issue such an advisory,” the Congress leader said.
Stating that the university teachers can opt for university salary and scale of pay, she asked, “Why would the state government put a lid on the activities of such teachers when their guidelines are offered differently?”
She continued: “We need to figure out if there is any legality in it.”
She said the state’s education policy should focus on the areas where the government is failing and find out what needs to be done to improve the disconnect of education.
She insisted that the government bring in a policy to improve the sector and not target the teaching community.
“Something which did not work in the past during the term of the previous government should under no circumstances be tried again in the present situation. Otherwise, a conflict, triggered by such a notification, can take the state’s education system 15 or 20 years back,” Lyngdoh cautioned.
On Monday, the Voice of the People Party (VPP) had demanded the withdrawal of the notification.
After submitting a representation to Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit had told reporters that the notification was a knee-jerk reaction from the government to prevent many professors and lecturers from joining the party.
