SHILLONG, June 8: The state government is facing a big challenge in amalgamating the different categories of schools and managements under one umbrella, Education Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui admitted on Wednesday.
“None of the states of the country have such a system. The state government and the stakeholders are facing a tough task to address this problem,” Rymbui said while speaking during an interaction and discussion with Union Minister of State for Education, RK Ranjan Singh on the theme ‘Educational Vision for North East India and NEP 2020’ organised by Asian Confluence here.
He said the convergence of minds of the managing committees, stakeholders and the government to work together in spite of the challenges is imperative.
Pointing out that there were many challenges in the past two years due to COVID-19, Rymbui said the pandemic has however opened an opportunity to reach the student community through the medium of digital platforms.
Commenting on the state of educational infrastructure in Meghalaya, Rymbui observed that most of the government LP schools are in shambles.
“If we are to have quality education we need to have good infrastructure. We are facing difficulties to set up smart classrooms due to lack of infrastructure. So improvement of infrastructure is critical,” he said.
Stating that the reach of telecommunication in far flung areas of the state is still limited, Rymbui informed that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had sanctioned about 889 new mobile towers in the state two years ago but till date not even 25% of this has been achieved because of some challenge or the other. These are the issues which we are facing,” he said.
Rymbui however observed that if the infrastructure and digital connectivity are there then the state can move forward in the implementation of the National Education Policy. According to him, with the advancement of technology there will be a time when there will be no more schools and students will learn through digital platforms.
Rymbui expressed satisfaction that the NEP has stressed on skill development.
“So far we have set up vocational training centres in 155 schools across the state and training has been imparted to the students. But we still have a long way to go,” Rymbui said.
The Education Minister however lamented that the introduction of new systems like the no detention policy has a negative impact on the joy of learning.
He also raised concerns that the decision of the University Grants Commission that for Common University Entrance Test (CUET) the marks secured in the 12th Board examination and degree examinations are not important is not a positive sign since students have acquired knowledge that will have no bearing on their admission to a university.
“We are taking away the efforts and hard work of the students. I have even raised this issue with Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan that some weightage should be given to the marks scored during the 12th Board examinations and the UG examinations,” Rymbui added.
