Shillong, Sep 10: The opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) has demanded the removal of Vijay Kumar Mantri as Commissioner and Secretary of the Education Department.
The party said it is seriously concerned over the current state of affairs of education in Meghalaya.
“The manner in which education is being handled and administered, particularly under the commissionership of Vijay Kumar Mantri, like policies relating to structured pay framework, welfare of teachers in deficit grant-in-aid institutions, service conditions and school rationalisation and others, have created serious uncertainty among teachers and raised questions about the accessibility and quality of education,” VPP president and Nongkrem MLA Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said.
According to the VPP, the manner in which these policies have been conceived and implemented can reasonably be perceived as anti-people and insensitive to the interests of local educators and communities.
The party stated that Meghalaya’s education system cannot be reduced to bureaucratic rationalisation and numerical efficiency while disregarding its unique social, geographical and local realities.
“VPP therefore demands the immediate removal of Vijay Kumar Mantri as Commissioner and Secretary of the Education Department and calls for leadership that listens to teachers, respects local realities and places the interests of students and the people of Meghalaya above bureaucratic convenience,” Basaiawmoit added.
In the last two years, Meghalaya’s student pass rate in SSLC and HSSLC exams have improved markedly following the introduction of a ‘guidebook’ by the government. In addition, the PGI national ranking of the state has also improved, though from a low base. However, the government has faced protests from teachers over pay, the latest of which revolves around the structure pay framework and the payscale for new teachers.
