Union moves DSEO for probe into appointment ‘anomalies’

TURA, May 28: The All Meghalaya Minority’s Students’ Union has petitioned West Garo Hills District School Education Officer (DSEO) for an inquiry into alleged anomalies in the appointment of the headmaster of Hallidayganj G/A Secondary School.
The complaint comes in the wake of one Eftasma Elahi being appointed as the school headmaster after his predecessor’s retirement.
The AMMSU has alleged that the Elahi is a graduate in Biotechnology unlike his predecessor, who was reportedly B.A. and B.Ed qualified.
In a letter to the DSEO, the Union termed the appointment a violation of recruitment norms laid down by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
“The members of the SMC are not qualified for the work they are supposed to do as they appointed a graduate without a B.Ed (Eftasma Elahi) to replace the previous headmaster, Abu Hashem Sheikh. This is a clear violation of the norms laid down under NCTE,” said AMMSU president, Nur Islam.
He added that albeit it was an Arts teacher that the school required, the School Management Committee (SMC) went ahead to advertise for a Science teacher’s post.
“People are unhappy as there are already two Science teachers in the school as well as Elahi, who is a Biotech student. We feel there is something extremely fishy in the process that has been undertaken by the SMC,” he added.
The Union also claimed that the date of the interview for the vacant post was due on February 3, 2022, but was apparently postponed without any communication to the applicants.
The fact that the SMC was allegedly doing things on its whims and fancies, as per the AMMSU, did not go well with the local population from the area.
The Union has now asked the DSEO to not only cancel the advertised post but also take action against the SMC.