Shillong, Aug 27: A total of 3,332 out of 5,131 SSA schools managed by community, private and religious organisations have submitted NOCs, consenting to the management transfer to the State Education Department.
A meeting was convened today by Education Commissioner & Secretary Vijay Kumar Mantri with members of the Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA) to discuss the subject.
MSSASA President Aristotle C Rymbai told reporters 3,034 community-managed SSA schools and 298 managed by private and religious institutions have submitted their willingness to handover the management to the government.
It may be mentioned that although it has a smaller population than Tripura (based on the 2011 census), Meghalaya has nearly three times more schools, 14,582 compared to 4,929. This disproportionate number of schools in Meghalaya has resulted in skewed student enrolment, with many schools reporting very low student numbers, including some with zero or just a few students.
Meghalaya government had decided to tackle the overabundance of schools by merging and consolidating related institutions that act as separate schools even though they are effectively one.
The association also took up matters such as pay scale of teachers, rationalisation of SSA and government schools, and cabinet memorandum for school management transfer.
Rymbai said that the Education Department has also decided to submit a proposal on pay scale structure for over 14,000 SSA teachers in the state.
“We are happy to hear from the commissioner & secretary that the proposal for a pay scale for SSA teachers is being prepared and will be sent to the finance department and cabinet for approval after the (upcoming) Assembly session,” he said.
Rymbai also informed that the department has started rationalisation of SSA and government schools, deploying teachers from single-digit enrolment schools to higher enrolment schools.
On concerns over rationalisation of schools operating in the same building or campus, particularly with regards to salary disbursement for SSA teachers, Rymbai said the Commissioner & Secretary assured that the present system of salary transfer will continue and disbursed directly to their personal accounts.
Rymbai said that the association is expecting to receive further updates on the pay scale structure after the 16th Finance Commission’s report is released by the last week of October.
