The joint meeting held recently at Khonjoy, South West Khasi Hills district between All Khasi Hills Achik Federation (AKHAF), Garo Students’ Union (GSU) South West Khasi Hills Unit and Achik Holistic Awakening Movement (AHAW) has decided to urge the Education Department to appoint Garo-speaking teachers who are well conversant and adept in Garo language to teach students in Garo medium lower primary schools in the Khasi Hills region in conformity with Section 29 (f) of the RTE Act, 2009.
“The medium of instruction shall as far as practicable be in the child’s mother tongue. Apart from the above demand, we do not have any issue with regard to the appointment of teachers in upper primary level in any school and we are ready to cooperate and work in tandem with all the stakeholders to uplift the standard of education in our area which has been neglected and discriminated by successive state governments ever since attainment of statehood in 1972,” AKHAF general secretary Manuel Ch Marak said in a statement issued today.
He also said that the demand has no bias or prejudice towards any person or community “but is only for the interest of Garo students who are struggling to pursue their studies in spite of severe economic hardship they are facing”.
“This will also go a long way in the struggle for inclusion of Garo and Khasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India for which the State government and various NGOs are demanding from the Government of India,” Marak added.
