September 5 is a convenient day for Meghalaya to praise its teachers. Messages will pour in, photographs will follow, speeches will be made and, as always, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will remind everyone through his social media post about how teachers shape the future of the state.
The calendar, however, has a rather uncomfortable memory. MDA 2.0 came to power in 2023. Since then, teachers have repeatedly taken their demands to the streets. SSA teachers raised salary and service issues. Ad hoc teachers pressed for school upgradation, increments and better conditions.
In 2024, SSA teachers sat in protest for weeks demanding a salary increase. The provident fund dispute kept returning. In 2025, ad hoc teachers were again protesting. In 2026, teachers’ organisations fought over the proposed Centralised Fund Scheme.
Now vocational teachers are protesting too. Three hundred and twenty-one trainers say they are still waiting for a meeting they were promised in May. Their demands include better pay, job security and changes to the vocational training system.
The government can point to new pay structures, financial allocations and decisions taken on some of these demands. But three years of recurring protests remain difficult to explain away. Too many matters appear to move only after teachers organise, protest and threaten another agitation.
Today, Meghalaya will praise its teachers for shaping the future. By tomorrow, some of them may be back on the streets asking the government to deal with the present.
