TURA: Felicitation and presentation of mementos to former principals and teachers marked the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Tura on Wednesday.
Established with the purpose of imparting basic and quality education to the under privilege girls of the society, the venture school was started with evening classes from class IV to VI in the year 1967.
In the beginning, the school christened Garo Graduates’ Girls’ School was managed by the Garo Graduates Union with no financial aid from the government. It was sheer grit and determination of the few who toiled blood and sweat to keep the school running that made it what it has become today.
Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma was present in the event as the chief guest in the presence of GHADC MDC, Rupert Sangma, Deputy Commissioner, Pravin Bakshi, MBOSE Controller of Examination, T R Laloo and a host of other dignitaries including school and college heads.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister lauded the efforts of the Garo Graduates Union (GGU) which resulted in the establishment of the school. He said that the situation of the school 50 years ago must have been difficult with numerous challenges and urged the people to be thankful to the members and to honour them for their selfless efforts. Addressing the teaching fraternity, Sangma urged teachers to fully devote to their profession and not view it as a means of livelihood. He said that the government still faced problems while appointing teachers and telling to them to undergo further training as most were unwilling and try to opt out of it.
“Teaching is an art. Equip yourself with training, become a Guru and nurture the students,” he added.
Quoting the phrase ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’ Sangma said that faulty education policies adopted by the government over the years had undermined the education sector in the state, which was the reason for the poor SSLC and Class XII results this year.
“There is no reason to be happy about the SSLC and Class XII results this year. This is due to the policies adopted by the government which it could not get out of,” he added.
According to Sangma, there are also too many categories of schools and teachers and the education department needed to work on it. He said that the need of the hour was to simplify the whole thing and take care of areas of the curriculum and syllabus by adopting certain courses which are crucial for the youths to understand the various aspects of life.
On the overall situation in the state, Sangma said that it had suffered greatly because of contentious issues taking away precious time of policy makers. Citing the case of his own constituency of Ampati where militancy first raised its ugly head in the form of the A’chik Libetration Matgrik Army (ALMA), Sangma said that the situation has changed with the collective efforts of Church leaders and the people.
Earlier, the jubilee souvenir was released by Chief Guest. The Chief Guest also handed over a citation to Selma Cecilia G Momin, who was among the school’s first pupils.
