SHILLONG, FEB 26: Lower primary school teachers, who were appointed on contractual basis for the past many years, on Wednesday demanded the state government to regularize their services.
Under the banner of the Meghalaya Government Lower Primary School Teachers’ Association (MGLPSTA), the aggrieved teachers said that majority of them are already overage.
The demand came a day after the announcement of the Meghalaya Teachers’ Eligibility Test (MTET) results.
It may also be mentioned here that the state government had decided to do away with the appointment of teachers on contractual basis.
Association’s vice president Shining Kharsyntiew however told reporters that approximately only 10 per cent of the over 1,200 contractual teachers could clear the eligibility test conducted by government.
“Most of us now are at the receiving end as majority will be terminated from our jobs despite having served for more than eight to nine years,” Kharsyntiew said adding that it would be difficult for the teachers to find for alternative source of livelihood as most of them have become overage.
“Therefore, we urged the state government especially the education minister to consider regularizing our services,” he said.
According to him, one of the reasons for the teachers’ inability to clear the examination was may be due to the examination being conducted after a long gap making it difficult for them to compete with young aspirants.
Asked, he said the contract given by the education department was renewed every 59 days.
Justifying the demand for regularisation, Ri Bhoi unit secretary Paleilang Rani said that the teachers appointed on contractual basis have fulfilled all criteria including diploma for elementary education (D.El.Ed).
To another query, Kharsyntiew said that the issue of regularization was a long pending demand of the teachers and that the government on many occasions had giver “verbal assurances” to take necessary action on this regard.
By Our Reporter
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