Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, who is keen to improve the education scenario in the state, is not jubilant Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, who is keen to improve the education scenario in the state, is not jubilant over the result as he thinks there is still room for improvement since the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) is yet to achieve the goal of improving the percentage in both Science and Commerce Streams. Rymbui, who himself is from Science background as he is a graduate in Botany from St. Edmund’s College, spoke to The Shillong Times and analysed the results.
ST: What is your assessment of the results?
Rymbui: First of all, I congratulate the students, teachers, parents and others who worked hard to ensure the success of the students. I want those who did not pass not to lose hope. Getting more marks is not everything. So many things you can achieve in life. Try to do better in future and be positive.
ST: What about the percentage of Science stream?
Rymbui: The 71.07 percentage of science stream is discouraging. There is a decrease in the percentage compared to the past five years. There is 3 percent reduction compared to 2018. We have to introspect to understand where we have gone wrong. Parents, teachers and school managing committees can collectively work together to improve the results and the government is ready to provide any assistance.
ST: Do you feel the Commerce stream result is encouraging?
Rymbui: The Commerce percentage is stagnating as it stands at 79.24. The students should have done better. Even then, we hope with the collective responsibility of all stakeholders, we will be able to improve the result. We also want the quality of those who pass out to be better.
ST: There are no higher secondary schools or colleges for commerce stream in South West Garo Hills and South
Garo Hills. Will the government look into the matter?
Rymbui: We have to examine the issue. We will see in what way the government can help the students.
ST: How do you rate the performance of the schools?
Rymbui: The government aided schools have performed better since there is tight selection process and screening compared to other schools, But we have to give chance to everyone. In Garo Hills, the percentage is below 60. Time has come to give career guidance and counseling to the students who find it difficult to pursue Science and Commerce subjects.
We have to popularise Mathematics and Science and the initiative like Jodo Gyan can help in improving the results. Jodo Gyan is an organisation engaged in finding workable solutions to the problems in classroom practices.
ST: What would be the state’s initiative to improve quality of education?
Rymbui: We are coming up with the state curriculum framework. We will have a new syllabus and text books. Through this exercise, we will examine what went wrong in the past so that we can improve better.