SHILLONG : Instead of simply celebrating Teachers’ Day, members of the Khasi Jaintia Deficit School Teachers Association on Saturday used the occasion to highlight the long-pending problems faced by teachers in deficit schools across Meghalaya.
Speaking to the media at the Shillong Press Club on Teachers’ Day, the association’s general secretary, Barbara Lamin, questioned whether teachers were truly being respected when their salaries were not paid on time and their Dearness Allowance (DA) and other benefits were not received regularly.
“On a day when we are supposed to honour teachers, do we really respect teachers if their salaries do not reach them on time, along with their DA and other benefits?” she asked.
Lamin said several posts in schools continue to remain vacant, creating difficulties for both teachers and students. She also highlighted the problems faced by retired teachers who are still waiting for benefits due to them.
She said teachers had come forward on Teachers’ Day to seek answers from the government as well as concrete steps to resolve their long-standing grievances.
Lamin stressed that teachers’ salaries should not be viewed as an act of charity but as a legitimate right.
“The salary of teachers is not charity; it is our right,” she said, adding that delays in salary payments create serious difficulties for teachers and their families.
The association has urged the government to address the pending issues faced by deficit school teachers and ensure that salaries, DA and other legitimate benefits are released on time.