Shillong, Jun 26: A delegation of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) led by Mawlai MLA Brightstarwell Marbaniang and party vice-president KH Chen met Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui over the opposition’s concerns of a weakening in the higher education system, particularly the deficit grant-in-aid system.
Speaking to reporters, Rymbui said that the government in fact is trying to streamline the education system.
He said that there is no intention of the government to weaken the education system, adding that the government is trying to set up colleges all over the state since it wants to strengthen the education system.
The government is giving grant-in-aid to 21 colleges and the state university has been set up recently in order to improve the education sector.
“Whether school or college education, we are moving in a direction where we are trying to streamline with the sole intention for a better education system,” Rymbui said.
On concerns expressed by the VPP that some colleges are not advertising vacant posts, Rymbai explained to them that colleges are not only run by the government but also by different societies or governing bodies.
“We will intervene if there is a deficiency in imparting education,” he added.
In a letter to the government, the VPP noted that while the government has repeatedly called education a top priority, ground realities suggest otherwise.
The party said policies and administrative decisions appear to be undermining the framework on which higher education in the state was built.
The deficit grant-in-aid system, it added, played a historic role in expanding access to education in remote areas and giving thousands of students opportunities they would not have had otherwise. The VPP also raised the issue of the University Grants Commission (UGC) scale of pay for teachers in government-sanctioned posts in deficit colleges.
It said the UGC pay scale was extended to college teachers from 1975 and was accepted for nearly 50 years as essential to attract qualified faculty and maintain standards.
The party alleged that some teachers with all UGC-prescribed qualifications are now being denied the scale despite holding similar posts and performing identical duties. It warned this creates the perception that current policy works against local and indigenous candidates.
The party further flagged delays in payment of dearness allowance. While the central government has revised DA to 60 percent, teachers in Meghalaya drawing UGC scales are yet to receive even the earlier 58 per cent rate, it said.
