Editor,
The Education Department is involved in a lot of anomalies. Firstly, the Department had advertised for admissions to the 2- year Diploma course in Elementary Education in the DIET through the local newspapers in March 2014. In the advertisement it was not mentioned that the application forms are to be sold to the candidates. Surprisingly the application forms were sold for Rs 5 and 10 but only DIET Tura sold the forms at Rs 100 each. Secondly a certain candidate from Mawryngkneng Development Block got selected for the National -cum- Merit Examination conducted by the Directorate of Educational Research and Training without even appearing for the examination. According to the criteria approved by the Government, three candidates should be selected from each Development Block to undergo training in the DIET, Meghalaya for two years for the respective courses to ensure uniform representation of candidates from each Development Block. Ironically 15 candidates have been selected and sent for the Course from Ampati Development Block alone. Now what about other Blocks which fall under different constituencies which have not been equally represented? Also, the age limit prescribed by the MHRD for undergoing the said course has been violated by the Directorate especially for candidates who hail from Garo Hills.
Third, the MBOSE recently notified in the local newspapers requesting the parents of students not to purchase books on science subjects as some lessons have to be corrected or amended at class XI level. Is MBOSE empowered to decide on academic matters without Government approval? Is it not an examination conducting body/agency only? Will The Government clarify? The Education Department should have asked MBOSE to correct the text books at the Elementary level which are full of mistakes and loopholes in almost all the textbooks. This issue has been pointed out by us, the parents for the last three years, but is the Govt listening?
Lastly it is reliably learned that the Right to Education (RTE) Act which was passed by Parliament has also been notified by the State Government for implementation in the state. The Act stipulates compulsory promotion of students up to Class VIII. The Act mandates schools to conduct the “Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation” and the system has been approved by the State Advisory Committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Education for implementation in the State since 2012 and it is understood that many teachers have been trained to implement the scheme. Will the Govt clarify to parents the reasons for delay? Or is the delay deliberate so as to avoid change of books and publishers which entails wining and dining? This could be another scandal surrounding Government officials under the past and present regime spiced up with invisible power- play by top Ministers which needs to be raised by each one of us as it concerns the careers of our own children.
Yours etc.,
R. M. Sangma and others,
Tura.
