Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
Fifteen teachers belonging to the Meghalaya Progressive Special Educators’ Union (MPSEU), on September 12, urged the government to release their salaries and arrears pending from March 2022 till date, failing which they will hit the streets if they do not get a reply in 30 days.
MPSEU is a trade union of teachers for specially abled students in various schools in Meghalaya.
The special educators have been appointed from the year 2017 under IEDSS (Inclusive Education For Disabled Students at Secondary and Higher Secondary Stage), the Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) that has been launched from the year 2009-10.
This Scheme replaces the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) and provides assistance for the inclusive education of the disabled children in classes IX-XII. This scheme is presently subsumed under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)1 from 2013.
Addressing a press conference, assistant general secretary Susan Marbaniang said, “Our salaries have been pending since the month of March. We have met the officials and also the education minister (Lahkmen Rymbui). We have not received any reply from them.”
She added, “The last resort will be to agitate. We have the support of our students, teachers and also the disabilities association.”
The union’s president Bashisha Challam said the duties and responsibilities of special educators is to give support and assistance to the students with educational needs, physically disabled students in regular schools; provide remedial teachings to the regular teachers.
They also give parental counselling and guide them in their child support and requirements such as taking them for assessment, obtaining disability certificate, applying different schemes and scholarship program provided by the government, aids and appliances etc.
Challam said that the 15 special educators help students from class IX to XII making students, parents and teachers aware of the government’s schemes available to all children studying at the secondary stage in Government, local body and Government-aided schools.