SHILLONG, June 7: In what may be termed a significant decision that is likely to have an impact on thousands of students undergoing studies at the secondary level, the state government is likely to take a call on doing away with the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination as part of its move to re-draft the State Education Policy in line with the National Education Policy (NEP).
Recently, Assam announced that the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) will not conduct the Class 10 (HSLC) board exams from the next academic year as the government wants to efficiently implement the NEP.
“Because of that, we have to re-draft our education policy. We will examine whether we should do away with SSLC or not. We will see what is best for the students,” Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma said on Wednesday.
He said Meghalaya cannot implement the NEP in toto as it will go beyond the state’s limitations in terms of infrastructure and other issues and incorporate parts of the NEP that are favourable for the state.
He said the Education Department intends to introduce something that lays focus on the history, art and culture of the state.
Talking about challenges in the implementation of the NEP, the minister said there is always room for improvement. He said a national seminar on NEP 2020 will be organised in Mawkyrwat on June 13.
Sangma said the department has written to institutes of higher education, especially colleges, seeking their views on multi-disciplinary courses. He added that the department would subsequently share the views with the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU).
Talking about limitations, he said an insufficient number of faculty members is a huge burden on the institutions, both private and government. Unless it is taken care of, it will be difficult to implement the NEP properly, he added.
He said he will meet the Union Education Minister to apprise him of all the challenges and issues and seek the Centre’s help.
Former MLA and Advisor to the Education Department, HM Shangpliang said, “We have had a long discussion with the Minister on the NEP. We will come up with a customised policy for our state in line with the NEP.”
Elaborating it, he said, “We are going to customise our policy which is favourable, friendly and possible to be executed, not forgetting the other sector – vocational skills.”
Govt seeks more CUET centres in state
Sangma said the state government has already communicated to the National Testing Agency (NTA) to designate more examination centres in Meghalaya considering the problems being faced by the students. “We will aggressively work with the NTA and the Government of India to make sure we have enough examination centres,” the minister said.
Sangma also disclosed that NEHU has rescheduled its exams to avoid a clash of dates with the CUET.