JOWAI: Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui has suggested that schooling should not be for 5 days in a week, but should be for six days where Saturday will be treated as a free class where a student can do whatever he/she feels like.
Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of Unitarian English Lower Primary School in Nongtalang village on Friday, Rymbui added that the free class can be from outside the syllabus where the day will be counted and marked by teachers concerned.
“A student will have to document whatever he did during this free class but at the end he will have to submit a project report on what he has done and marking will be on the basis of this report. The activity could be some sort of apprenticeship in which the student accompany their parents in their job and learn the job from them. This will inculcate the sense of dignity for labour amongst the children. In this way, the kids can harness the inborn talent that they were gifted with,” said Rymbui.
Hike in scholarship
The education minister has also proposed the enhancement of scholarship for students in different categories — the lowest category will get a scholarship of Rs 10,000 and the scholarship for those in the highest category, that is category 1, will be given a scholarship of Rs 35,000.
“The goal is that no parent should have any excuse to not send their kids to school,” he said.
The government is also planning to provide free textbooks to all students from class 1 to class 10 in few years’ time, Rymbui said.
“By December,” he said, “the government will lay the foundation stone of a school in Umladkhur with an estimated amount sanction of Rs. 24 crore.”
On the National Education Policy, the education minister said that the state government opposed the recommendation with regard to the power and function of the SMC and the sponsoring body.
The government reiterated its stand that the sponsoring body should be the sole authority in running the school and the role of the SMC will be of advisory in nature.
The state government has also opposed Centre’s three-language policy and demanded that status quo should be maintained in this regard, and students should not be forced to learn additional languages.
