Education minister appeals agitating teachers to suspend stir
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, September 04 2022: While confiding that rationalisation of teachers would be completed within October, education minister Th Basanta Kumar has appealed to teachers to suspend their mass casual leave agitation and resume normal duty in the interest of students.

Addressing media persons at the conference hall of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) office, Babupara, here, on Sunday, Basanta said that teachers from schools with surplus teaching staff will be transferred to schools facing shortage of teachers.

On completion of the process to ensure uniform availability of teaching staff by October 31, the first ever rationalisation of teachers will be carried out, said the minister who also informed that the state currently has a total of 1884 government schools from primary to secondary level and 7211 vacant posts in these schools including 6945 teaching staff.

However, government is making nec essary effort to fill these vacant posts including graduate teachers and the process for recruitment of 923 graduate teachers is about to complete and result would be declared soon.

Government is putting in effort to fill vacant posts in schools with recruitment of graduate, primary and pre-primary teachers, he said, adding that second term of N Biren Singh-led BJP government is giving special emphasis on development of the education sector and officials of the department are working day and night to solve existing problems of the department.

Education department being a huge one, government is trying to identify administrative issues as well as problems and requirements for teachers and students, Basanta Kumar said while stressing the need for improving infrastructure set up of schools.

ZEOs concerned have been instructed to identify problems and issues of schools in their respective jurisdictions and the department has started getting feedback, he said, adding that ZEO Tamenglong has furnished a report about schools in the district having no or adequate teaching staff and the department is trying to fill up vacant teachers for those schools through recruitment and rationalisation.

While terming the ongoing mass casual leave agitation by teachers as very unfortunate, the education minister said that all the teachers are employees of state government and the present issue has cropped up due to misunderstanding when the state finance department issued an order for submitting the details of teachers.

He then appealed to the agitating teachers to suspend the ongoing stir in the interest of students.

Responding to a query raised by media persons, Th Basanta said that the 'School Fagathansi Mission' was launched in 2019 and the mission yielded success as some students secured positions in class X and class XII examinations in 2019-20 .

However, no government school student secured position this year as COVID-19 pandemic affected activities of the mission for nearly two years.

Nevertheless, government is hopeful that government school students would secure positions in class X and class XII examinations in the coming years as government is planning to conduct special coaching for students selected from government schools.

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