Merger: SSA schools’ body rallies teachers for parleys

SHILLONG, April 27: The Meghalaya SSA School Association (MSSASA) is rallying all SSA teachers across the state to disclose and discuss the minutes of their recent deliberations with the state government regarding their demand to merge SSA teachers under the Education department on a regular basis.
“MSSASA will organise a general meeting of all SSA teachers on May 3 at Student Field, Jaiaw, at 10:30 am,” MSSASA president Aristotle C Rymbai announced on Sunday.
He added, “We will disclose the outcome of our meeting with the government pertaining to the Association’s demand to merge all SSA teachers from the State Implementation Society into the State Education department on a regular basis.”
Rymbai urged all SSA teachers to spare their time and attend the meeting positively.
Earlier, MSSASA had called on the State Government to formally take over SSA schools that have already given their consent. Rymbai stressed the need for timely government action to bring these schools under the direct control of the Education department.
For schools where School Managing Committees (SMCs) are unwilling to hand over control, Rymbai urged that SSA teachers be allowed to continue serving until retirement, with salaries equivalent to those of regularised SSA teachers.
He also advocated for the extension of Grant-in-Aid (GIA) benefits to SSA teachers, proposing a salary structure including Basic Pay, Dearness Allowance (DA), and an annual increment of 3%.
Additionally, Rymbai suggested relocating teachers from schools with very low or no enrolment to institutions with higher student numbers but limited staff, to ensure efficient teacher deployment and job security.