Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma promised to raise the matter of the late announcement of the results of the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.EL.ED) with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) on Tuesday.

Sangma made this assurance after meeting a delegation of 29 students from Sibsingh Centre in West Khasi Hills District, who have been waiting for their results for the past five years.

Sangma told reporters that the matter is very unfortunate and he suspects that there are many other centres across the state which are facing the same situation. He said that he will take up the issue with the NIOS authority and find out the reason for the delay.

The D.EL.ED is a two-year course for in-service untrained teachers working in primary and upper primary schools. The NIOS conducts the course under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme.

Meanwhile, thousands of first-semester undergraduate students in Meghalaya are in a dilemma as teachers of 75 colleges affiliated to the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) have launched a non-cooperation movement against the university for trying to implement the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA) has asked its members to boycott classes from Tuesday, except for third and fifth-semester classes. The MCTA has opposed the NEP 2020, saying that it will affect the autonomy and academic freedom of the colleges and teachers.

A student of Lady Keane College said that she had paid the fees and got admitted to the BA degree course, but she does not know when her classes will start due to the NEP 2020 tussle between the authorities and teachers. She said that she hopes that the matter is resolved at the earliest, as it may affect the timeline of other semesters.