Citing the Covid-19 pandemic for the delay in conducting the next stage of the appointment of teachers by the state government is mere “smoke and mirrors” a frustrated teacher told Highland Post today.
Teachers who have cleared the Meghalaya Teachers Eligibility Test (MTET) in January 2019 are still waiting for the state government to conduct the personal interview and other recruitment procedures.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one teacher claimed that Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui had not even bothered to respond to a letter a group of teachers had sent to him last month on the issue.
“The fact that authorities keep citing the Covid-19 pandemic for the delay in conducting the interview is just smoke and mirrors,” the teachers said.
He further claimed that officials had told him that the actual reason for the delay is because some of the hundreds of tainted teachers who were removed from their post following the education job scam have filed a petition in the High Court of Meghalaya challenging their dismissal. If some tainted teachers are able to get their jobs back then the government might cut back on the number of new teachers it hires.
Stating that the lack of trained teachers is a great drawback to quality education in the state and a burden to the few, especially with schools reopening in this pandemic, the teacher said, “If the government really means that quality education is its top priority then it should also show action.”
With many months passing since they cleared the MTET, some teachers fear that the validity of their results will expire or they may be over-aged by the time the recruitment process is completed.
