SHILLONG, Sep 5: Acknowledging the gaps and lacunae in the education sector, Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma on Thursday said a lot has been done to improve the sector and the data stands for it.
“When it is education, thousands of topics can be discussed. First come to literacy, we are above the national average. When it comes to PGI ranking, the drop-out rate is the highest but it is an old data. Some data are not factual and the same has to be corrected,” the minister said.
He accepted that there is a challenge in infrastructure but said over 2,400 school buildings were constructed, renovated and restructured in the last five years.
He said all government colleges received a new building, be it in Sohra, Williamnagar or Mawkyrwat, adding that the department got sanctions for three colleges and funds for the renovation of 44 SSA schools.
“We have done differently in the last five years. All government higher secondary schools and government colleges received new buildings. We are about to complete the Mawphlang College of Science, the state university and the Shillong Engineering College. Look at the data from the last six years, we have tremendously improved,” Sangma asserted.
Stating that more needs to be done, he said, “We have a limit. We have the best student-teacher ratio. We have 55,000 teachers compared to 22,000 to 23,000 in Manipur, yet we have been able to manage.”
“Our service rules will be amended. We are working on how to bring reforms which will help all categories of teachers. We’ve constituted the state education commission. We are working to understand the issues and concerns,” Sangma said.
He requested everybody to shoulder the responsibility and urged the MLAs to double their efforts. He said MLAs who have not been able to contribute can adopt some government schools.
Meanwhile, the state government has completed the process of selecting the Vice Chancellor of Captain Williamson Sangma University. The government is awaiting the Governor’s consent for the VC’s official appointment.
“We have already completed the process of appointing the Vice Chancellor. We have sent the file to the Governor and as and when he approves the proposal, we will be able to issue the appointment letter to the selected candidate,” Sangma said.
The state government will fill up 106 posts for the state university. The Shillong campus of the varsity will function from the Government College of Engineering at Mawlai.
While 100 posts will be based in Garo Hills, six will be for the Shillong campus. The government will spend over Rs 45 crore annually.
Earlier, the minister said the state government initiated the process to obtain University Grants Commission’s recognition for the Captain Williamson Sangma State University. Once it is granted, the government will begin affiliating colleges in the state to this university.
This will ease the inconveniences caused by the Central University Entrance Test (CUET) examination. Students who prefer colleges affiliated to the state university will no longer need to take CUET.
Sangma said a new principal has been appointed for the Pine Mount School, Shillong.
