SHILLONG: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has advocated for making Meghalaya an education hub but considering that the state does not have a policy in place, the idea sounds unrealistic.
The MBoSE results too have not been encouraging in the past few years making the chief minister’s “education hub” dream look more distant.
Sharing his views on the matter, UDP leader Bindo Lanong questioned how Meghalaya could be an education hub when it did not have the infrastructure.
“Do you think he (Mukul Sangma) means it,” Lanong said and pointed out that the state till date has only one central university.
“The chief minister is making such statements at the fag end of his term despite knowing that he is not returning to power. With such statements, he is only trying to fish electoral prospects and benefits for the Assembly elections,” the UDP leader added.
Terming the chief minister’s statement as ridiculous, Lanong said Sangma should not fool the people of the state any more with his statements.
West Shillong MLA and UDP leader Paul Lyngdoh expressed concern over education taking a back seat in Meghalaya.
“The state has lost the charm and the pride of (being the) ‘education mecca’ of East India,” he said.
Citing an example of Kiang Nangbah Government College in Jowai, Lyngdoh said half of the teaching staff in the college has left and half of them have not been paid since the past one year. He said UDP would put education on top of its agenda and would try to retrieve the old glory of Meghalaya by evolving an education policy which is in sync with the latest demand of job markets.
On the other hand, NPP leader James Sangma termed the statement of Mukul Sangma as a cruel joke, saying the government since the past nine years has done nothing to promote education.
The NPP leader said the absence of education policy was an indication of the lack of seriousness of the government to develop education in Meghalaya.
Asking the chief minister to stop making such irresponsible statements, James said, “Now it’s too late for Mukul Sangma to put his money where his mouth is.”
KHADC chief executive member and Mawsynram MLA PN Syiem said the standard of educational institutions in the state has gone down compared to the earlier days. “How Mukul Sangma will make Meghalaya an education hub (now)? He should have thought about it earlier,” said Syiem.
Slamming the state government over the delay of 15 years in constructing the Assembly building, Syiem said Meghalaya needs various policies such as education, power, employment, tourism and art and culture.
