Dimapur, August 5 (MExN): Academic activities in schools are being hampered by the Special Investigation Team’s verification drive, the All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association today lamented. The SIT was instated to investigate and identify the authenticity of appointments made during 2007-2009 and was given four months time from February 7, 2009 initially. However, before they could submit their first report, they were given additional responsibility to investigate down to year 2002. Academic “process” and activities are being hampered owing to the absence of teachers whose appointments are being scanned by the SIT and their salaries withheld since then, the association said in a note today.
Airing its opinion, the ANSTA said many rural schools are functioning with great difficulty due to shortage of teachers, the glaring example being in Peren district. “The government has repeatedly failed to redeploy teachers from surplus schools to shortage schools,” the ANSTA said. The association explained that “teachers appointed against old creation number are somehow helping many schools in filling up the vacuum of teacher shortage.” “That most of these teachers are appointed with the approval of the Government as per the Directorate version and if these cases are genuinely approved by the Government and processed through official files, Government will be nowhere if they take the letter of approval and knock the door of justice,” it said.
“…we ANSTA, while distancing ourselves from bogus appointment issue and giving our welcome gesture to SIT which is constituted by the government with high hope, now have certain reservation that the SIT might have lost its conclusive vision and definiteness in its approach to the problem as the time passes by. Just because, whether bogus or no bogus the process is too long to bear and it’s really hampering the smooth functioning of many rural schools across the state,” the ANSTA said.
The association suggested that ‘whatever be the cases, let these teachers know their fate as early as possible whether termination in some cases or re-accommodation (sic) in some other cases.’ Also, as the “authentication process” for 2007-2009 ‘must have been completed by SIT’ the report may be given first. Likewise, the SIT is suggested to submit district wise reports as they go from district to district and may be given whichever is completed.
Another suggestion of the ANSTA stated: If appointments are made with the approval of the government and processed through official files, they may be re-accommodated on the condition that they have proper documents and requisite educational qualifications till such time an interview or suitability test is conducted and found suitable for regularization at par with others.
The verification process should not be prolonged at the cost of children’s career and the fate of teachers as well, the association said, adding that “there is always a reasonable time frame to complete any given task.”
“Since school education, is not the only department which is involved in these kinds of appointment, eradication drive of bogus appointments should be launched in other departments also by setting up SIT, if other departments come under the same government,” it added.
