The state government is to blame for the large number of schools that have low numbers of students enrolled because it is not appointing teachers in many cases, the Meghalaya Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan School Association (MSSASA) said today.
Last year, data revealed that there are 269 schools (168 primary and 101 upper primary) in Meghalaya with fewer than 10 students.
MSSASA said today that the government has not appointed enough teachers to take the place of those who have retired or otherwise left the SSA system and that has led to staff shortages and students dropping out, MSSASA president Aristotle Rymbai told reporters today.
The association met the State Project Director of Samagra Shiksha and Director of School Education and Literacy, Swapnil Tembe, and submitted a letter urging the government to appoint teachers in SSA lower primary and upper primary schools.
“For the last three years many of the sanctioned posts of head teacher and assistant teacher in SSA lower primary schools and upper primary schools in the state fell vacant due to resignation [or death] and this had affected the education of the students in those schools due to unavailability of teachers,” Rymbai said.
Although Tembe did give the SSA teachers a qualified answer as to whether the government would appoint teachers to low enrolment schools, MSSASA plans to meet the Education Minister to seek further clarity.
Meanwhile, Rymbai also wants the government to transfer the 12,541 existing SSA teachers from the State Implementation Society to the state’s Education Department.
This move aligns with the provisions of Right to Education/SSA norms, he said, addressing the concerns of 5,814 lower primary and 6,727 upper primary teachers under the SSA budget head.
