By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 14: Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma declared on Thursday that academicians and experts, not some retailers or businessmen, should decide on the books and curricula that are to be chosen for students of the state.
Sangma made this statement in reference to TMC leader Mukul Sangma’s opposition to the proposal to adopt modified NCERT books, which he claimed stemmed from Mukul’s meeting with business owners and shopkeepers.
“I have no doubt that he was met by a few publishers and booksellers, and these publishers also wrote a memo to me and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to halt this action. Why? Because they are printing books for all these years and they will lose out on their profit,” he told The Shillong Times.
“Let the people decide whether it is a ridiculous or historic move,” he said, pointing out that Mukul had called the state government’s decision ridiculous.
“We have made a decision regarding the interests and future of the students because we want to raise the bar for education in our state and we shouldn’t let them fall behind.
“We have done a lot of consultations with experts, educators, principals, teachers, and all stakeholders, and everybody agrees with this move and support this move,” he said, claiming that Mukul is the only one out of the 35 lakh people living in the state who is complaining about it.
“Dr Mukul himself ought to have made this decision a long time ago because our curriculum’s standards aren’t up to par with those of the rest of the nation because the majority of national entrance exams are NCERT curriculum-based, meaning that our students frequently need to retake coaching in order to pass these exams,” he stated.
“Those already using NCERT textbooks easily get through in these competitive examinations. We have adopted for adaptation. This year, we will redesign the textbook with our local content,” the minister stated.
“In addition, we will introduce a subject that will be specifically about learning our culture, language, traditions, and practices so missing out on the local content does not arise in fact we are going more in depth on this,” he added.
Regarding the hold-up in the student scholarship releases, Sangma stated that the government anticipates the Centre will release the instalment any day now to settle all outstanding ones.
“Post-matric scholarship is a programme that is funded centrally. We are expecting the Centre to release the first instalment at any moment,” he stated.
Vice president of the BJP and Tura MDC, Bernard Marak had questioned the state government’s decision to delay awarding the umbrella scholarship because it was inconveniencing students. He had insisted that the delay was not the Centre’s fault.
The minister responded to Bernard’s accusation by asking, “Where is the documentation and proof? We will be the first to send the money out if the Centre has indeed released it.”