TURA, Aug 19: Education has been a challenging sector for the state government, feels Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who has however also stated that the education system and overall economic situation has improved in the state in the last four-and-a-half years
The chief minister was speaking after inaugurating the the new building of the College of Teacher Education (CTE) at Rongkhon, Tura, on Friday, in the presence of Chief Adviser to the CM, Thomas A Sangma, officials of the Education department and the West Garo Hills district administration.
In his address, the CM lamented the lack of clear directions or policies for moving forward to ensure the overall and holistic approach for improving the education sector.
According to him, the MDA Government had identified the systematic problems and made substantial investment much higher compared to the previous years in the education sector.
Also speaking on the occasion, Thomas A Sangma emphasised on the need for quality infrastructures while pointing out that world of education is changing rapidly.
Director of the Directorate of Educational Research and Training, John P Lakiang, highlighted the roles and responsibilities of a teacher, and threw light on how the government has laid emphasis on youths.
According to the principal of CTE, Rongkhon, Dr Meena A Sangma, there are 119 classrooms, separate rooms for teaching faculties, etc., in the ‘state-of the-art’ building.
Highlighting the needs of the institution, she said around 90 posts of teaching faculty need to be created and filled up.
Giving the welcome address, the Additional Director of Higher and Technical Education, A Ali Nagi, informed the gathering that the new building has been constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore funded by the Asian Development Bank under Supporting Human Capital Development in Meghalaya. Nagi feels that the institution will fulfill the need for B.Ed and M.Ed courses as per the NCTE norms and standards.