Contractual teachers employed by the state government should have understood from the very beginning that their jobs were contractual in nature, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said today.
Such teachers who were let go by the government in 2021 have been on hunger strike in the city for two weeks now, though few in the government appear to have taken note. Many of the teachers were not able to secure permanent teaching jobs, when the government began hiring again, as they had not cleared the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET) or were too old.
“Many of the contractual teachers who were on contract applied and qualified and got through while some of them did not get through. Close to 13,000 teachers were appointed,” Sangma said. “We were not able to directly give them permanent employment because the job was contractual in nature. We are ready to examine if there is a possibility of helping them in any possible way following the rules and procedures that are there. But to be able to just directly appoint them will not be appropriate for us because there are procedures to be followed.”
Recently, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui made it clear that the state government will not hold discussions with the protesting teachers, who then described this stance as a lack of respect for the many years that they have served students and the state.
