By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 27: The All Meghalaya Primary School Teachers Association (AMPSTA) on Monday met Commissioner and Secretary of Education Department, Vijay Kumar Mantri, and discussed 11 key issues affecting the teaching community.
The issues include the delay in appointing teachers, caused by the implementation of the roster system.
AMPSTA secretary FC Shullai told reporters that 256 Lower Primary (LP) teacher posts have remained vacant due to complications arising from the roster system.
He said the Association has proposed that 80% of LP teaching posts in Khasi-Jaintia Hills be reserved for Khasi-Jaintia candidates, and similarly, 80% in Garo Hills for Garo candidates, to ensure balanced representation and faster recruitment.
Moreover, the Association raised concerns regarding the Supreme Court’s order of September 1, which mandates that all teachers must clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).
Shullai clarified that teachers with less than five years of service would not be required to appear for the TET. He further shared that he had visited Haryana and Assam to study their TET models — Haryana Teacher’s Eligibility Test and Assam Teacher’s Eligibility Test — to gain insights for Meghalaya’s system.
He pointed out that the Sub-Divisional School Education Officers (SDSEOs) had recently issued a circular mentioning only TET and MSET, while the State Eligibility Test (SET) was omitted.
“We demanded that teachers, who have cleared SET, should be exempted from appearing TET,” Shullai said, adding the Commissioner assured them that the performa will be rectified to include SET qualifications.
The Association further discussed the earlier government directive that no formal examinations be conducted from pre-primary up to Class 2.
Shullai said many teachers, after consulting with parents, found that most of them prefer exams to assess the growth and performance of their children. He added that conducting daily assessments from pre-primary to Class 5 is difficult in schools with a few teachers.
However, the Commissioner emphasised the need to encourage continuous assessment for young learners instead of traditional exams. AMPSTA also took up the matter of pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears of 46% and 49% for deficit teachers.
According to Shullai, the Commissioner apprised them that a clarification has been sought from the Finance Department, and that, some SDSEOs have already disbursed the 46% arrear.
“We did not set any deadline but requested the government to release the pending arrears at the earliest,” he added.
Meanwhile, AMPSTA assistant general secretary Vegonia Nongpluh said the Association had prepared queries and sought clarifications on the Meghalaya Education Grant (MEG) discussion papers.
She said the Commissioner assured that the government would hold a consultative meeting with Education Department officials and teachers’ associations before implementing the MEG.
“So far, there has been no detailed deliberation on the MEG,” Nongpluh said.
AMPSTA also raised several other matters, including the appointment of teachers as Booth Level Officers, issues related to the Contributory Provident Fund and other administrative concerns.
