By Our Reporter
Shillong: Deputy Chief Minister BM Lanong highlighted the role of educational institutions in uplifting the education standards in the state while stating that in 10 or 15 years, the educational standard in the state will increase besides providing quality education to the students.
“The government is committed not only to improve the standard of education at the primary and elementary level but also the college and university level”, he said. The Deputy Chief Minister was speaking as the chief guest in the final day of the golden jubilee celebrations of Sankardev College.
Fifty years since its inception, Sankardev College has come a long way in its contribution towards the educational scenario in the state, providing the students with the basic knowledge and skills even while maintaining the diversity of culture, religion and tradition of the students from various parts of the north east.
The year-long Golden Jubilee Celebration of the College which kicked started last September culminated on Saturday with a grand function held on the college premises here in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister BM Lanong, Principal of the college, president of the governing body, principals of various colleges in the city besides teachers and students of the college.
Traditional dances of the various tribes of the North East, songs and other programmes were presented on this day. Besides performances from the students, the teaching staff of the college also presented a striking medley of old songs gathering much praise from the crowd.
The Deputy Chief Minister who is also In-charge of art and culture department said the department has already acquired 5 acres of land at Mawdiangdiang to set up the music academy which is estimated to be around Rs 25-30 crore.
“The academy will provide many courses not only in local traditional and cultural music but also Indian classic and international music”, he said adding that a systematic musical order (Tonic Sol-fa) for folk and traditional music will be introduced.
He also said that the local traditional young musician should develop something which is bigger than Tonic Sol-fa which it has helped musicians across the globe to improvise their skills adding that exercise has been going on for the last few months.
Turning to law as a professional course, Lanong has informed that a suggestion has been made to start the LLM course (Master of Law) in NEHU and “With its own High Court in the state now, employment opportunities in this field will be abundant.”
On this day, Lanong also released the Golden Jubilee Souvenir of the college and also felicitated some of the faculty members who had completed 25 years of service to the college who included the principal and vice Principal of the college, Dr D Dkhar and Dr Matti Syiem.