Guwahati, Sept 5: Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma today appealed to the district councils along with the teachers’ fraternity of Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts to improve the quality of education in the hill districts.
The appeal came after only one school in Dima Hasao, two in West Karbi Anglong and seven schools in Karbi Anglong district secured A-plus grades after they were evaluated under Gunotsav 2022, a programme designed for qualitative improvement in school education, including learning outcomes of children as well as co-scholastic activities, use of resources and community participation.
Of the 45,735 schools evaluated across 33 districts in four phases of Gunotsav this year, 844 schools were evaluated in Dima Hasao, 1313 in Karbi Anglong while 653 schools were evaluated in West Karbi Anglong.
Attending the state function of the 61st Teachers’ Day at Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium here, the chief minister urged teachers posted in schools of the hill disticts to be dedicated in their services.
“Some teachers have not seen the hills despite being employed in schools located in the hills. This trend has to change if we are to improve the standard of education in the hill districts,” he said, adding that Gunotsav has brought to the fore the challenges before us to improve quality of education, especially in the hill districts.
Sarma lauded Sibsagar district where 591 schools secured A-plus grades out of 4828 schools in the state that secured A-plus grades.
Reiterating the state government’s primary emphasis on the education sector, along with the health sector, he said that the government has constantly endeavoured to improve the quality of education in the state.
“We are now trying to maintain a balance in the teacher-student ratio besides setting up schools where they are needed. Hundred high schools have been set up in the state’s 800 tea gardens while another 100 high schools will be set up this year,” Sarma said, while announcing that Gunotsav, which has so far been implemented in the academic years 2017, 2018 and 2022, would be organised every year in the state.
The chief minister further said that infrastructure of schools would be upgraded and that about Rs 10,000 crore would be invested in 4000 high schools so that quality education could be imparted for the next 50 years.
Over the years, various efforts and initiatives have been taken for improvement of children’s learning outcomes across the state. Apparently, several grey areas are still there in the school education sector, such as decline in enrolment, achievement level of learners, utilisation of available resources, adequacy in infrastructure availability, accountability of teacher fraternity, etc, which require immediate attention and supportive measures.