Monday saw hundreds of ad-hoc school teachers rallying in the capital of Meghalaya to demand that they be regularised and be given a more conducive pay package. The protesters held together under the umbrella of the Federation of All School Teachers of Meghalaya (FASTM), and in a foot march all over the streets, the protesters sent a strong message of urgency and frustration.
The requirements of the federation are clear but important. On the one hand, they would like an immediate transfer of ad-hoc teachers to the so-called deficit system, the category in which teachers partially subsidize the remuneration packages by means of state financing. Second, they demand an annual increase in salary of five per cent, on the grounds that the existing rates are not based on the burden, or even on the qualification of these teachers. Third, they want to have an extension of the compulsory retirement age from 60 years to 65 years, in order to make the tenure of teachers longer and more stable. Lastly, they demand that the state meet an assurance by Education Minister Rakkam A 17 December 2023, that the state would reform the policies of the ad-hoc cadres.
The protest was triggered by the fact that the government does not fulfill promises that had already been given nearly two years ago. The teachers under ad-hoc are, according to S. Jungai, who was the FASTM vice-president, performing the same task as their regular counterparts but being denied the benefits and security of a regular appointment. He encouraged the government to come up with a concise policy that will overhaul the ad-hoc system because he noted that the existing setup is not sustainable.
In Meghalaya, regular teachers are simply appointed by the school education department, whereas the deficit teachers are paid a part of their salary by the state. The ad-hoc category is, however, paid on a fixed honorarium and does not receive such service benefits as pension or health insurance, or paid leave. The honorarium rate is full of injustices: 18,000 / month in lower-primary classes, 22,000 in upper-primary, 29,000 in secondary, 31,000 in science streams, and 33,000 in higher classes.
The ad-hoc list contains a large portion of the teaching force of Meghalaya, both at primary, secondary, and higher-secondary levels. Their protest reflects an increasing need for equity in remuneration and job security- a cry that has echoed in many in the educational fraternity of the state.
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