Lower primary school teachers, under the banner of the Meghalaya Government Lower Primary School Teachers’ Association (MGLPSTA), began an indefinite protest opposite the MBOSE office here.
The teachers at first attempted to stage their protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence but were ordered by the authorities to relocate.
In January 2021, the state government terminated the services of teachers who did not clear the Meghalaya Teachers Eligibility Test (MTET), which the government made mandatory in 2020. Several contractual teachers are also now over the age limit and have been under contract for more than 12 years.
The association considers it unfair to make the MTET compulsory even for teachers who have been in the job for so many years. Back when they were appointed, the state government made it mandatory for teachers to undergo the Diploma in Elementary Education and to also have scored more than 45 per cent in the HSSLC exams.
Speaking to reporters today, MGLPSTA president Birbor Riangtem said, “We have never hesitated to travel to every nook and corner of the state to give our services to the children of our state. Now that most of us have become too old to find another job they (the government) say we are not qualified.”
He added that more than 800 teachers have become jobless because of the government’s decision. The MGLPSTA has met the Chief Minister six times on the issue and submitted numerous memoranda but to no avail.
“We want results this time because we have families to feed and we want the government to reappoint us,” Riangtem said, adding that the government should have asked for MTET from the start and should have not extended the contractual teachers’ service for the past several years only to suddenly tell them that they are unqualified.
