The Meghalaya High Court has ordered for appropriate action against a former teacher of a school in West Garo Hills and a senior official of the SSA whose disruptive activities had crippled the functioning of the school.
Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew in his order passed on November 24 has directed for civil and criminal proceedings against Nurul Amin, a terminated teacher of Khetadhowa SSA Upper Primary School, Bhaitbari as he indulged in disruptive activities such as, filing of fabricated documents, which has dislocated the functioning of the school as recorded in the enquiry report.
The High Court said that the action against Amin should be initiated both by the Managing Committee of the school , as well as, by the District School Education Officer, West Garo Hills, within a period of eight weeks, from the date of the court’s order.
The court also ordered for appropriate disciplinary proceedings by the Director of School Education and Literacy against Ela Begum Laskar who in her capacity as District Mission Coordinator had acted in a manner, which is prejudicial and damaging to the school, and the office she occupied.
Further, the High Court directed that all outstanding salaries and benefits should be released immediately by the School Managing Committee to three teachers – Shobuza Begum, Abdul Rafique and Nazila Begum who are the rightful sanctioned teachers of Khetadhowa SSA Upper Primary School, Bhaitbari.
“As the RTE norms are in place, the Managing Committee shall be constituted as per the said norms to be re-constituted every two years comprising of 75 per cent of the members, from amongst parents or guardians of children studying in the school and 25 per cent from elected members of the local authority, teachers of the school and local educationists,” the High Court said in its order.
The High Court also directed that all vacancies in the school should be compulsorily advertised by the School Managing Committee and eligible candidates be selected by way of test and interview.
As per the enquiry report, the root of the problem of the Khetadhowa SSA Upper Primary School is because of the claim made by Nurul Amin that he is the head teacher, being a founder teacher, and that he is also the language teacher. This controversy came about, on account of the new NCTE norms, that there could be only one teacher each for Language, Social Science and Mathematics.
When Nazila Begum was appointed as a language teacher and Shobuza Begum as Science and Mathematics teacher in 2010, Nurul Amin, never raised any grievance at that stage, and in fact, on merits has no case, as he was never appointed against the sanctioned posts.
Nurul Amin became active after the illegal approval order was granted by the then Joint District Mission Coordinator T S Sangma, and when subsequently Ela Begum Laskar occupied the post of JDMC. He never responded to the inquiry to seek to establish his position.
Nurul Amin, allegedly was found to be embezzling SSA funds, and never took any steps to reply to the allegations and rather than reply chose to challenge the authority of the official, who had instituted the enquiry, which raised sufficient suspicion, as to his acts of commission and omission. The matter is all the more serious, as he had even submitted fake documents to substantiate his claims.
Nurul Amin, failed to acquire the required qualification, to fulfill NCTE norms, and at that time, when the three teachers Shobuza Begum, Abdul Rafique and Nazila Begum were appointed against the sanctioned post, he had attended the Managing Committed meeting held on May 3, 2015, and as a participant of the proceedings, was therefore party to all the decisions taken.
From the records submitted, Nurul Amin, attended his duties in the school from his date of joining from March 5, 2010 to June 2017 and remained absent from his duty from July 2017 to February 8, 2022. After he was terminated from service on February 9, 2021, no reply was given by him nor the charges rebutted.
During the period, Nurul Amin, was the convener member of the School Managing Committee, the salaries of Shobuza Begum and Nazila Begum were deducted in an unauthorised manner, which led them to file writ petitions before the High Court, which resulted in a situation, where salaries have not been paid to teachers, who are regularly attending to their duties in the school.
With regard to the role of officials in the Education Department in complicating the matters, the role of Ela Begum Laskar, in her capacity as Joint DMC and DMC, is questionable, as she has passed many arbitrary orders favouring Nurul Amin and also her enquiry reports, appear to be suspect and not in order.
In the enquiry, she accepted that it was difficult for her to understand the rules. It is further remarked in the enquiry report that Ela Begum Laskar may be cautioned.
