SHILLONG:
Six days after they sat for an indefinite sit-in against the government’s apathy towards their demand for enhancement of their salaries, the ad hoc teachers, under the banner of Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTOM), called off their agitation, saying they have to think of the students as well and being on the streets isn’t helping the latter.
“For how long will we protest here? We have to think of the students as well. The decision made by the chief executive committee (CEC) is that we will call off the agitation but will have a dialogue with the government on the issue of 5 per cent yearly increment,” said Mayborn Lyngdoh, spokesperson of the federation.
The decision came a day after the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) approved the proposal to enhance the grant-in-aid to the privately-run ad hoc schools by Rs 100 crore with effect from July 1. “All of us aren’t happy with what we got from the government, said Lyngdoh, addressing a gathering at the Additional Secretariat parking lot.
The federation also informed that it will fight for benefits such as Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), maternity leave, health insurance, and others, as well.
Stating that there is an urgent need to change the state’s educational system for the better, Lyngdoh, while addressing the gathering of ad hoc teachers, said that there are too many categories of teachers in the state and the government needs to address that.
“In Meghalaya, from now on, there should be three different sets of teachers – aided, government and those from purely private schools. The ad hoc, deficit, and fourth teachers, should be clubbed under the ‘aided’ category. The teachers should also get benefits irrespective of what position they hold,” said Lyngdoh, informing that he met political leaders such as Ampareen Lyngdoh and Jemino Mawthoh to discuss the education framework as well.
Demanding an overall of the educational system in the state, the FASTOM spokesperson said that not only is education becoming expensive in the state, the dropout rate too has witnessed a very high rate.
“The education in Meghalaya is outdated. What we are teaching our students is old and redundant things. Moreover, more focus should be given to subjects such as Mathematics and Science as without proper command over these two, students won’t be able to perform in competitive examinations,” he said.