SHILLONG: As part of a social initiative from a group of Shillong entrepreneurs who run tourism and other projects in Umsning and adjoining villages, a new school building for Risoh School which was started in 2005 was inaugurated by chief guest Toki Blah on Saturday.
Several village elders including the Rangbah Shnong and Syiem of that area were present at the function. The village elders lauded the efforts of DD Laloo, Adele Paswet and the former headman of Rtiang village, late Harding Shadap who were concerned about high dropout rates in the surrounding village and first mooted the idea of a new school building.
B Makdoh, a village elder said that the people of the area no longer consider people who have bought land there as outsiders who treat the area as a business centre only and come there to exploit the resources of the place. He said education in the area is still weak and even the teachers in Government schools send their children elsewhere to study. “The upgradation of Risoh School and equipping it with better infrastructure had added value to the village. DD Laloo, A Paswet and others have also been included in the executive committee of Rtiang village.
Former Home Minister, RG Lyngdoh who is also a landowner in Rtiang village, exhorted the parents to work in tandem with school authorities for the progress of their children and to understand the worth of the school. Addressing the parents, Lyngdoh said, “The fees you pay for your children’s education is an investment for their future.”
He told the teachers to take their vocation as a God-given task and give their best.
“It is important to tell the children about the legends and stories attached to the village so that they feel proud of their heritage and develop a love and stake-holdership in the village and return to the place to give back what it has given them,” Lyngdoh said adding that more than book knowledge it is manners and social skills that teachers should be imparting to students. Lyngdoh urged the villagers to take advantage of the presence of outsiders in the village instead of suspecting their motives. He said tourists pay money to visit these remote areas and this creates direct and indirect employment for many.
ICARE president and chief guest for the occasion Toki Blah said education is a participatory effort and parents have a duty to work with the school. He lauded the parents who were present on the occasion and said he was happy to know that they had cleaned up the school compound to prepare for the inaugural function. Blah also urged the teachers to encourage creativity and to listen to the children and allow then to think out of the box and use several methods to arrive at answers to mathematical questions.
The students of Risoh school entertained the audience with songs and a drill display.
It may be mentioned that the school is an English medium one and charges a fee of Rs 250 per month. At present the school accommodates students from classes nursery to Class V.
Donors and sponsors and well wishers include Babloo Vaswani, Manu Vaswani, Chiranjib Choudhury, Babloo Das, Danny Pariat, Mukesh Bahirvani, Cliff Phanwar, Keith Pariat and others.
