SHILLONG:
Show-causing teachers of the Pine Mount School for going public with the allegedly murky affairs of the institute was not enough, it would seem. The Education department has also warned the students against speaking to the media and spilling the beans.
A teacher requesting anonymity said, “Students now also have been threatened with consequences to their future if they spoke about the internal matters of the school. How is the mismanagement of an institute just an internal matter? This is a dictatorial approach to things. Can students not even raise concerns that they are facing on a day-to-day basis? This shows the lack of any consideration on the part of the Education department. No wonder indicators place our state last across all rankings.”
This comes after the teachers and students staged a protest earlier this month demanding resignation of the principal, Aiom Ksiar Diengdoh. They alleged that the principal was never present in the campus whenever they wanted to discuss issues concerning the welfare of the school and students.
Another teacher wishing not to be named said, “We were told that since teachers were spreading false information about the authorities, we should be wary of consequences before we talk to the Press.”
The teachers and students have been claiming that the school’s washrooms, laboratories and libraries are not being fixed despite several requests to the Principal and the Education Department.They also alleged that school development fees which are notified by the government were being collected but there was no implementation or accountability for the same.
The school was once considered as the face of the Education department of Meghalaya with the alumni having spread their wings far and wide.
Another teacher added, “We have been suffering for a long time now. In the current state, no one can call Pine Mount a premier educational institute. Some of us have personally written to the Education department about the mismanagement of the school, but have not received any response. Publicly protesting was the only option we had. By handing us show cause notices, it only shows the department’s admission of fault.”
Previously, the teachers also had mentioned that the school had missed out on several opportunities owing to the negligence of the school office.