‘Connectivity, quality of higher education major concerns’
SHILLONG: Shillong can easily become the hub of education for Eastern India, said Tarun Vijay, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development which visited the state recently to take stock of the educational scenario of the state.
Speaking exclusively to The Shillong Times, the member of the committee and the Rajya Sabha member said Shillong has the potential to even attract students from South East Asian countries.
He, however, rued the fact that despite having tremendous scopes, Shillong’s lack of direct connectivity with major Indian cities is a major bottleneck that needs to be addressed.
Vijay said that the city needs to be connected with countries like Myanmar and Thailand as well to fully realize its potential as an education destination.
The BJP MP also lamented that despite being known for its high standards of education, Meghalaya is lagging behind many other states when it comes to higher education.
“Even the Science stream does lag a bit in comparison to other states,” he said.
Vijay asserted that youngsters from the North East are second to none and the region is a great reservoir for India. “What it (North East) needs is infrastructure and other facilities,” he said.
Expressing happiness over the fact that Shillong has some of the finest institutions of the country like NIT and IIM, he stressed on the need to setup high quality examination coaching centres in the city to enable the students of the state to perform well in the national- level competitive examinations.
While lamenting the lack of an international standard sports complex here, Vijay advocated the need to encourage students to participate in sports activities since the North East has brought laurels for the country in several international sporting events including the Olympics.
Reacting to a query on the Right To Education (RTE) Act, he said the Act was one of the best enactments of Parliament even as he admitted that there is further scope of improving upon it.
He also issued a strong warning to states and the schools who refrain from implementing the RTE
“We will take to task those not implementing the Act,” he told The Shillong Times adding that the schools in the state which are run by religious institutions should be more forthcoming for the RTE that intends to close the disparity between the rich and the poor when it comes to imparting education. When asked about the exorbitant fees charged by some schools, he said, ” Some private schools in the North East charge exorbitant fees it has to be sealed.”
It may be mentioned that during its visit to Shillong, Parliamentary Standing Committee reviewed the functioning and performance of higher educational institutions in the State.