Tura, July 24: The Garo Students’ Union (GSU), Eastern Zone, Williamnagar, on Friday, organized a peaceful Students’ Gathering at the parking lot in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in East Garo Hills to express solidarity with renowned education reformer Sonam Wangchuk and the students’ movement in New Delhi.
The gathering, which also highlighted pressing issues confronting the education system in the State of Meghalaya, witnessed the participation of students, youth and concerned citizens, who united to voice their concern over the need for comprehensive educational reforms. The programme reaffirmed the commitment of the student community to democratic values, peaceful expression and constructive engagement in addressing issues affecting education.
During the gathering, the Union observed that despite the government’s efforts to improve the education sector, several challenges continues to hinder the academic development of students, particularly those from rural and remote districts. Among the major concerns highlighted were the poor condition of school infrastructure, inadequate classrooms and learning facilities, poor road connectivity to educational institutions, shortage of qualified teachers and the unequal distribution of educational opportunities, with most competitive examination coaching, career guidance programmes and educational activities being concentrated in Shillong and other urban centres.
The Union also expressed concern over the effectiveness of the existing teacher training programmes, observing that many such programmes have not translated into meaningful improvements in classroom teaching.
The union felt that the frequent deployment of teachers for non-academic duties such as Election duties, Booth Level Officer (BLO) assignments, Census operations, surveys and other administrative responsibilities continues to reduce valuable classroom teaching time, particularly when many schools are already facing an acute shortage of teachers.
A memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, was also submitted on the occasion, through the East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, where it urged the Government to undertake comprehensive reforms in the education sector. The Memorandum also called for improvement of school infrastructure, strengthening of road connectivity, recruitment of adequate teachers, decentralisation of educational opportunities to all districts, reformation of teacher training programmes, minimising non-teaching assignments for teachers, strengthening digital education, establishing district-level competitive examination coaching centres, and introducing meaningful career guidance and skill development programmes.
