SSA State Mission offices sealed
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 21 2011:
Demanding preferential treatment at the time of recruiting Primary teachers, activists of All Manipur Education Volunteers' Welfare Association locked offices of SSA State Mission Authority and District Project Officers.
The Education Volunteers (EVs) were engaged in Education Guarantee Scheme centres under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan since 2004-2005 by paying certain monthly honorarium.
The EVs are now demanding that they should be given certain advantage at the time of recruiting Primary teachers.
Notably, there are 717 Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) Centres in Manipur under SSA.
Out of these, the State Government took a decision on September 13 this year to upgrade 380 centres to the level of Primary schools.
However, the EVs who have been running these centres from the very beginning have been ignored by the Government, lamented the association.
Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club here today, Association president Oinam Nobin claimed that the State Government decided to upgrade 380 EGS Centres to the level of Primary Schools after a great struggle by the EVs for four/five years.
Nobin further claimed that they were selected as qualified teachers by village education committees even before the Right to Education Act came into force.
But without giving little thought to all the struggles made by EVs, the State Government issued a notification on October 20 for recruitment of fresh Primary teachers under SSA, he said.
This step of the State Government has belied all the hopes and expectations of the EVs who were hoping that they would get regular employment as and when the EGS Centres are upgraded to the level of Primary schools.
It was with this hope, the EVs volunteered to lease out 90 per cent of the premises where the new Primary schools would be built.
The association demanded that the Government should review its decision of completely sidelining the EVs immediately.
Even if the Right to Education Act prohibits recruitment of untrained teachers, the EVs were recruited before the Right to Education Act came into force in Manipur, Nobin contended.
He further questioned the State Government's decision of making the TET passed candidates eligible for Primary teachers even when they have not been trained.
Accusing the SSA State Mission Authority of keeping the EVs suppressed since the very beginning, Nobin said that the authority has not yet published multi text books nor released necessary funds in time.
Honorariums due to EVs have not been paid for 10 months in all the districts.