There are 36 lower primary schools in Meghalaya that do not have any teachers, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui admitted in the Assembly today.
The matter was raised during question hour by opposition MLA Zenith Sangma.
Rymbui said that the reason for the teacherless schools is because of retirement, transfers or resignation of incumbents. However, he added that in most affected villages there are alternative schools, which limits the harm done to the students.
“The interim arrangement is made in some schools but not all,” Sangma retorted. “We cannot deprive children of the fundamental right of free and compulsory education.”
Asked why temporary arrangements are not made with contractual teachers, Rymbui said a recruitment hurdle is the High Court’s ruling mandating a roster system. Now that the system is “almost complete”, the recruitment process will begin again, he added.
Another opposition legislator, Winnerson Sangma, claimed that Rymbui’s figures were not accurate as, in his constituency of Salmanpara, there are two LP schools without teachers.
“It has been two and a half years that these single teacher-run schools are teacherless. There was no intervention from the High Court that time (the ruling was only passed this year), so why the delay in appointment of teachers?” he asked. In reply, Rymbui stated that he was not aware of the schools in question.
