SHILLONG: While the political bosses are on the same page in contemplating action against ten schools which have failed to have any student clear the recent SSLC exams, in terms of what specific action needs to be taken, there seems to be diametrically opposite views held by the Chief Minister and Education Minister.
On one hand, Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma is thinking of providing more support to those schools which have not performed well in this year’s SSLC exams, on the other hand, Education Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui has reiterated that the government would consider withdrawing financial support to these schools.
“We will seek a report on the nine schools from Garo Hills and one from Mawkyrwat who secured zero pass percentage in this year’s Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations. “We will go deep into this whole matter and if necessary we will withdraw our support to these schools which are not doing well,” Rymbui told reporters here on Thursday.
When pointed out that Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma had stated that the government would identify under-performing schools and provide more support, Rymbui disagreed with Sangma’s prescription and said, “I don’t think it is right to continue to support those schools that are not doing well. We need to understand that the financial assistance from the government is not an entitlement and it should be performance based. These schools are accountable since the funds which they are receiving are public money.”
Rymbui further observed that one glaring facts which has contributed to the poor performance of the schools especially in the plains belt areas of Garo Hills was the dispute among majority of the managing committees of the schools.
He said that there are many cases which have reached the high court for the formation of the managing committees besides there are also disputes between the teachers and managing committees.
This has largely contributed to the lack of coordination which resulted in the lower passing percentage of the students. This kind of politicking among the managing committees is very less in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rymbui said that this is not the first time that schools from Garo Hills had fared so poorly.
“We had tried to assess internally on the lower pass percentage of the students from Garo Hills region. The department has submitted a report which had mentioned that some of reasons for the non-performance of these schools are lack of infrastructure and good quality teachers. But these problems cannot be attributed to all the schools. The results of this year’s SSLC and HSSLC are definitely a wakeup call for the government. But we will need of the society at large and stakeholders to streamline the system. I am really concerned that 50 per cent of students who failed in the SSLC examination will lose one precious year,” he said.
The Education Minister said that the Chief Minister is taking keen interest on the development of the education sector.
“We have prepared education landscape and by 2022 the overall education system in the state will be improved in terms of infrastructure, accessibility and quality of education,” Rymbui said.