MPA government hikes teachers' salary

Shillong, Apr 1 (UNI) The Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government has announced a hike in the salaries of upper primary and secondary school teachers' following their threat to cease work from April 4.

Official sources said here today that the monthly pay of the general teachers of the adhoc grants-in aid secondary schools has been raised from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000, while the science teachers will get a hike from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per month.

The MPA government also announced that salaries of upper primary school teachers have been raised to Rs 5,000 from Rs 3,000.

''The state exchequer will bear an additional burden of Rs 10.32 crore per year to pay up for the hike,'' Higher and Technical Education Minister Manas Chaudhuri told reporters here.

He said as many as 2,532 secondary school teachers, including 368 science teachers and 2,363 upper primary school teachers from 983 schools, will be benefitted by the pay hike.

Besides the pay hike for the teachers, the MPA government proposed other initiatives to improve teaching and functioning in schools.

''We are committed to provide social security to college teachers, tackling school dropouts and streamlining of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS),'' Mr Chaudhuri said.

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