SHILLONG : Meghalaya’s latest teacher appointment order contains a notable condition: new appointments will be made with “strict adherence to fund availability”.
The Education Department’s 19 August order places all new appointments against vacancies in government and deficit schools from Lower Primary to Higher Secondary- under the Structured Pay Framework (SPF) until the end of 2027-28. Recruitment must follow prescribed rules, and posts filled under SPF will come under the School Education Mission Authority of Meghalaya (SEMAM).
The order does not say how many vacant posts will be filled.
VPP Lok Sabha by-election candidate Dr Batskhem Myrboh ( on his social media post) has questioned the wording, linking it to financial pressure on the government.
The order itself, however, does not state that teachers will receive different salaries depending on the government’s cash position.
The SPF notification issued in February already fixes the pay structure. Teachers with 0–5 years of verified service receive a monthly base pay of ₹21,000 for Lower Primary, ₹24,250 for Upper Primary, ₹34,250 for Secondary and ₹36,500 for Higher Secondary. It also provides a 3% Composite Annual Increment and an 8% employer contribution to the Centralised Provident Fund.
The SPF sets the salary. The August order adds a funding condition on the appointment.
On 25 August the government told the Assembly that 893 teaching posts were vacant in government schools – 748 in Lower Primary, 38 in Upper Primary, 91 in Secondary and 16 in Higher Secondary. The same data showed 1,124 government schools operating with only one teacher.
The order does not explain how the funding condition will work. It does not say whether a vacant sanctioned post must already have funds allocated before recruitment can begin, or whether recruitment can be approved first and appointments made later when money is released. The department has not clarified this.
The 2026-27 Budget allocated ₹3,347 crore to the Education Department, including an additional ₹200 crore for the structured pay framework covering more than 23,000 fixed-pay teachers. The February notification, effective from 1 April 2026, was aimed at existing fixed-pay teachers, including SSA and RMSA teachers. The August order now brings new appointments against vacancies under the same framework.
No current statewide figure for deficit-school teaching vacancies is available in the published material. The department has also not stated how many of the 893 government-school vacancies it plans to fill in 2026-27, or how much has been specifically set aside for those appointments.
