1,900 graduate from Aspire Meghalaya’s soft skills prog

SHILLONG, Aug 30: A total of 1,917 students from nine campuses spread across East Garo Hills, West Garo Hills, East Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills districts graduated from Aspire Meghalaya at functions held in their respective campus premises recently.
An initiative of the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs and supported by the State Education Mission Authority of Meghalaya (SEMAM-SSA) under the State’s Education Department, Aspire Meghalaya has been designed to equip young adults with critical soft skills, improved career aspirations and talent discoveryplatforms.
The programme is implemented by AVENUES, a well-known personal excellence training social enterprise.
At the graduation function in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills, the Deputy Commissioner, Jagdish Chelani, remarked that lack of platforms to realise aspirations for the youth is one of the factors that pose a challenge to Meghalaya’s vision of becoming one of India’s Top 10 states in 10 years.
Speaking about the scope for development of youth in Garo Hills, he stated that education is one of the areas of concern. “Quality education can strengthen our communities by providing the right solutions to our problems,” he added.
He also expressed his desire to collaborate with institutions to introduce youth programmes including those focussed on the preparation for competitive exams in hopes that officers in various services including the IAS will emerge from the districts.
In Khliehriat, Additional DC of East Jaintia Hills Jonathan Shylla spoke about his career as an administrator and the critical skill sets that interviewers look for in candidates, while Simiroy Khongtiang, a renowned filmmaker from the Jaintia Hills, delivered an inspiring message to the graduates at Sutnga.
One of the highlights also included the sharing of experiences by Class 9 student of St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Shillong, Ilarisa A Lamin, at the Aspire Meghalaya.
The graduation functions across districts witnessed a wide range of talent display from the top talents of each campus in categories varying from singing, dancing, spoken word, body sport and visual arts.
Three top talents from each district will converge at a state-level summit where Top 10 State Stars will be recognised and connected to forwarding opportunities within the State’s skills and talent development framework, wherever possible.
The nine campuses that graduated this week include Williamnagar Government College and Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Williamnagar, in East Garo Hills; Jaintia Eastern College, Khliehriat and Sutnga Presbyterian Higher Secondary School in East Jaintia Hills; St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Shillong, and St. Anthony’s Higher Secondary School, Pynursla, in East Khasi Hills; St. Francis D’Assisi College and St. Peter’s Higher Secondary School in Nongstoin, West Khasi Hills; and Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Tura, in West Garo Hills.