Sankardev College celebrates golden jubilee
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government is going to provide scholarship to those students who would pursue vocational training courses, said Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma.
“This will enable the youth to stand in their own feet and not depend only on white collar jobs,” he said while delivering the inaugural address at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Sankardev College, here on Friday.
Dr Sangma informed that the State government has earmarked Rs 5 crore under Voluntary Action Plan which will be utilized exclusively for serving the interest of youth of the State in education and job-related sector.
The Chief Minister said the government was planning to start career counselling programmes for students as well their parents.
Dr Sangma said “Education sector has always been one of the top priorities of the State Government to equip the youth so that they can face the challenges and adapt themselves to change.”
“We should equip our youth in conformity with the present job market. We must realize that opportunities are not enough in the State to serve the youth and we should build up their mind set to think out of the box while providing education to them”, he added while stressing that career counselling to both the students and their parents is one of the important aspect of education so as to enable the youth to take up their choice of study or job seriously.
He informed that the Government was willing to support those colleges that wish to start career counseling sessions in their institutions.
He said the government would coordinate with school authorities to provide such kind of counseling. “Educational Institutions should think of this in confirmative with the demand in the job markets”, asserted the Chief Minister while citing a need for the state government to partner with these institutions in the right perspectives.
Speaking on unemployment problem in the State, Dr Sangma said education should be looked at from every aspects starting from the primary level to ensure that the youth are equipped with the right kind of knowledge and skills to fit in the job market available.
Citing that the state government has a great challenge ahead of it in opening up job opportunities for the unemployed youth of the state, Dr Sangma said there is a huge gap in the demand and supply in term of the work force in the job market and this is going to increase with time if nothing is done to bridge this gap while adding that the government has come out with various initiatives to address this problem like the Chief Minister Youth Development Fund (CMYDF) besides others.
To mark this occasion, the Chief Minister also unveiled the foundation stone for the college’s new annex at the same time launched an official website of the college and also released the college souvenir.
The other dignitaries present at the occasion includes Meghalaya Secretary of Education, LR Sangma, government officials, ex-principals and former teachers of the college etc.
Sankardev College, which was established in 1962, has come a long way in imparting education to the youth of the state and also students from other Northeastern states.
The college today has been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, Bangalore in B Grade category.
Besides the general courses of study, the college has also started a certificate course in Khasi Traditional Music and it is also going to launch a UGC- sponsored Certificate course on Human Rights.