SHILLONG, Aug 2: The opposition in Meghalaya has termed the plight of contractual teachers as “unfair”, especially in consideration of the fact that inspite of providing years of services, the government wants to do away with their services.
“It is very unfair considering the service and the hardships which they face to give the best to the students across the state and with meagre salaries. Yet, they kept on serving. But then suddenly, the government decided to do away with their services and at the same time appointing new teachers,” opposition Chief Whip George B Lyngdoh said on Tuesday.
As many as 800 contractual teachers, who were sacked from government lower primary schools in 2021, have asked the government to reinstate them without delay. The lower primary teachers were sacked after they failed to clear the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET).
Lyngdoh flagged the age-limit factor which has left the teachers with nowhere else to apply for jobs.
Pointing out that many schools remain with vacant posts, he said, “We have schools now where there are no teachers. So the state is suffering.”
Meanwhile, suspended Congress MLA Mayralborn Syiem said, “As legislators, it is time for us to address this issue. A proper policy needs to come up and this issue needs to be solved in a phase-wise manner.”
Stating that teachers under different categories in the state have been facing a lot of problems lately, Syiem said a huge task is cut out for the government, especially the Education department, to ensure that their issues are addressed.
Admitting that there many schools are without teachers or do not have the required number of them, the Nongpoh MLA urged the Education department to appoint teachers “as officiating on a breaking period, so that students don’t lose out on education.”
