Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on Friday hit back at the opposition VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit for alleging that the state government was “harassing” teachers by directing them to clear the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET), calling the statement “condemnable” and accusing the VPP chief of “not understanding the truth.”
“His statement alleging that we are harassing the teachers by asking them to clear the MTET is highly condemnable because he does not understand what the truth is. Before making such allegations, I feel he should first find out the reason behind such a decision,” Rymbui told reporters.
“However, Ardent, for some reason, sees everything through his ‘black glasses’ and through his dark lens, and that is why he does not see the truth,” he said. The minister said the Teacher Eligibility Test is mandated under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and was upheld by a Supreme Court ruling on September 1, 2025. “The ruling says ‘all teachers must pass the TET, irrespective of the length of service, except those with only 5 years of service left, who are exempted from taking the TET. However, they lose out on promotion,”he said.