Dimapur, July 1 (MExN): The Nagaland Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan Teachers’ Association (NRMSATA) 2016 on Friday drew attention to the State Government’s failure to implement pay scale for the underpaid RMSA (2016) subject teachers in parity with their counterparts.
In a press release on July 1, NRMSATA-2016 President Imlitemjen pointed out that almost four months have passed since the Guwahati High Court, Kohima Bench upheld the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ in favour of the NRMSATA, 2016 and directed the State Government to implement equal pay scale for RMSA (2016) subject teachers in parity with their counterparts. “However, the state government has so far failed to comply with the court directive passed on March 16, 2022,” it said.
“The lack of empathy, support and appreciation to say the least, is appalling,” the release stated while accusing the state government of ‘bullying a group of teachers for the mere ‘crime’ of being appointed in 2016 instead of 2013.’ It also said that the state government has been dividing the RMSA teachers into different groups, “thereby dismembering the solidarity and collegiality of the profession.”
“Only in Nagaland are employees engaged for the same work paid less than another discharging the same duties and responsibilities,” it added.
Buttressing its point, the Association further stated that it had, with the support of the rule of law and several declassified documents, “reminded the Government of its blatant contempt of court” by submitting a representation regarding implementation of pay scale and service regularisation to the Government of Nagaland on May 24, 2022. “Yet again, the Government has failed to redress the systemic discrimination it has been employing in its treatment of RMSA Teachers,” it added.
Despite being “victimised and shackled by corrupt mismanagement,” it maintained that the RMSA Teachers (2016) “have been revolutionary in the schools where they teach. This is shown by an impressive track record of 100% success rate of ‘newly-upgraded RMSA GHSs’ in HSLCEs ever since their appointment in 2016.” This it said, was a fact which has been “recognised and attested” even by the local media.
Presenting some facts and figures to “put this truth into perspective,” the Association highlighted that the continued 100 per cent success rate of various schools GHS Khar, GHS Saring, GHS Yaongyimsen Compound, GHS Longthrok, GHS Longjang, to name a few.
“Despite the school closures unleashed by the pandemic lockdowns, out of 25 GHSs achieving cent percent result in HSLCE, 2021, 13 were RMSA High Schools. This feat was repeated in HSLCE, 2022 —out of 12 GHSs achieving a 100 per cent success rate, 10 schools were RMSA High Schools,” it underscored, adding that the pass percentages of GHSs would have been abysmally lower, had it not been for the success of RMSA GHSs.
“Ignoring these facts, the Government of Nagaland continues to devalue these Teachers as ‘outsiders’ and use ‘RMSA Teachers’ as a derogatory label to make them feel inferior,” the Association alleged.
Further referring to a report published by The Morung Express, on June 2, (Three GHS in Nagaland secure hat-trick of Centuries), the Association stated that “all these 3 schools are schools where the stigmatized RMSA Teachers have been effectively making a positive difference in the classrooms and in the school culture.”
Lamenting the lack of support, it further stated that the “NRMSATA, 2016, is compelled to blow their own trumpets with the hope that the undervalued, disenchanted teachers feel motivated to hang on and to not give up despite the stifling forces of corruption that haunt their passion for teaching.”
