SHILLONG, July 8: In what can be termed as good news for aspiring teachers of Meghalaya, the Centre has green-lighted the implementation of the State Reservation Policy for recruitment of teachers in the upcoming Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS).
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, on Thursday, revealed that the state government has been successful in convincing the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the implementation of state’s own reservation policy for recruiting the teaching faculty.
“In our last attempt made recently, a delegation which was led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, and accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, myself and the Additional Chief Secretary, met Tribal Affairs Minister. I am glad to inform that they will allow reservation policy to be applicable for Meghalaya. I am thankful to the union minister for agreeing to this,” said Rymbui.
Out of the 40 Eklavya Model Residential Schools allotted to Meghalaya, construction work for two such schools — one in Nongpoh and Samanda each — has already started.
It is worth mentioning here that the Engineering Cell of the state’s Education department, Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) Limited, and Manipur Industrial Development Corporation (MANIDCO) will execute works of the two, 13 and 25 schools respectively.
The education minister expressed apprehensions that without the state’s reservation policy, the locals could miss this opportunity of getting employment while pointing out that the All India Reservation Policy for Scheduled Tribe (ST) is 7.5 per cent.
“That is why we tried to convince the central government and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to allow the state to implement its own reservation policy,” Rymbui explained.
He also revealed that the chief minister will form a committee to monitor the progress of these schools, and a meeting will be called by next week involving the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, WAPCOS, MANIDCO, and the Education department to make headway with the projects.
Eklavya Model Residential Schools programme is one of the flagship interventions of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which was introduced in 1997-98 to ensure tribal students get access to quality education in the remote areas.
The Centre provides one-time grant of Rs 30 lakh for establishing the school, thereafter up to Rs 30 lakh per school annually, while additional cost is borne by state governments.
For the state, Rs 960 crore of sanctions have been obtained for setting up the 40 EMRS across different blocks of Meghalaya to transform the secondary education.
There are around 226 Eklavya schools functional across the country and 68 of them are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.
