Mirabai Chanu’s Golden Hat-trick Brings Glory to India & our North-East
Editor,
Mirabai Chanu’s remarkable achievement at the 2026 Commonwealth Games has made us all proud. Her golden hat-trick is yet another feather in the cap of North-East India. Although she belongs to Manipur, her success is a moment of celebration for all of us in the North-East, including the people of Meghalaya. By winning her third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal in the women’s 48 kg weightlifting event, she has once again shown the world the strength, determination and sporting spirit of our region.
Her record-breaking lift of 85 kg is a testimony to her years of dedication, discipline and perseverance. It has added another glorious chapter to India’s sporting history and inspired millions of young people across the country.
Her sport’s journey reminds us that with hard work, courage and self-belief, no dream is beyond reach. Her success, I do believe, will encourage many young boys and girls from the North-East, including Meghalaya, to take up sports with confidence and aspire to represent the nation on the world stage.
The entire nation salutes this extraordinary daughter of North East and wishes her many more successes in the years ahead.
Yours etc….,
Jairaj,
Via email
NEP 2020: More Courses, More Fees, Fewer Teachers
Editor,
The announcement that only 49.8% of students from the first NEP 2020 undergraduate batch have passed should alarm every parent. When more than half the students fail, the question is not simply whether students studied hard enough, but whether colleges fulfilled their responsibility to provide quality teaching.
As a father, I find it unacceptable that while colleges proudly claim to have implemented NEP 2020, many appear to have done so without appointing qualified teachers for newly introduced papers such as the Multidisciplinary Courses (MDCs), Skill Enhancement Courses (SECs), and Value-Added Course (VAC). Instead, these subjects are often assigned to existing faculty, regardless of whether they possess the required expertise, merely to avoid recruiting additional teachers.
NEP 2020 is not just a change in nomenclature; it introduced a fundamentally new academic framework. Yet, instead of investing in competent faculty, some colleges seem to have treated these courses as an administrative formality while expecting already overburdened teachers to shoulder extra responsibilities. The ones who ultimately pay the price are the students.
A 49.8% pass percentage is not merely a statistic; it is a serious warning that something is fundamentally wrong with the implementation of the new curriculum. Colleges cannot celebrate NEP 2020 on paper while cutting corners in the classroom. What makes this even more unacceptable is that many colleges collect additional fees from students for courses such as the Multidisciplinary Course (MDC), Skill Enhancement Course (SEC), and Value-Added Course (VAC), yet fail to appoint qualified teachers to teach them. Instead, they simply redistribute these courses among existing faculty, regardless of specialisation, as a cost-saving measure. If colleges are willing to charge students extra but unwilling to invest in qualified faculty, they have little moral authority to blame students for poor academic outcomes.
The NEHU and the Education Department must investigate whether colleges have provided adequate faculty and academic support for NEP courses. Accountability must begin with institutions entrusted with educating our children, not with the students who have become the first test subjects of an inadequately implemented reform.
Yours etc.,
Tynshain K Lyngdoh
Via email
Kudos to Bethany Society
Editor,
Congratulations Jyoti Sroat School! Congratulations Bethany Society, Meghalaya!
A deep sense of jubilation and gratitude resonates in the ‘heart’ of Bethany Society on the occasion of one of its units, Jyoti Sroat School securing the top position in the Meghalaya School Performance Grading Index (MSPGI) 2025-2026 (released on July 24, 2026).
Over the years the vision of Bethany Society, Meghalaya – “We dream……of an earth fully alive, where everyone enjoys fullness of being,” has driven us into a relentless pursuit of research, innovations and the dare to implement them into our varied programs.
Jyoti Sroat School started as a special school for the blind in 1993 and evolved into an institution practicing inclusive education for All children by the year 2006.
Incorporating best practices for enhancing inclusive education in its true sense, learned nationally and globally, the goal has been and is towards student competency and teacher competency as per the NCERT Learning Outcomes (since 2012) and the Danielson’s Framework for professional development in teachers.
As a lead partner in the Regional Action for Inclusive Education in the North East (RAISE – NE) Program (2016-2022) the organization adopted the Universal Design for Learning (UDL Framework) as a base for lesson plan designing and transaction. This is evident in the teacher training manuals developed through this project which are used by Jyoti Sroat School and for any Teacher Training programs in Inclusive Education that the organization offers. It is with pride to mention that many of the new features of the NEP 2020 are practiced by the school and embedded in the Teacher Training manuals well before the policy came into force.
The crux of it all is ‘the child in the center’, ‘whom we teach’, surrounded by ‘where we teach’, ‘what we teach’, ‘how we teach’, and ‘how we assess’.
We believe that…. all children can learn:
– The child is not the problem; the system is the problem.
– The child is happy to come to school and happy when he or she leaves school for the day.
– We segregate garbage.
– Children are linked to the Environment and Employability as part of their learning.
As such, a majority of our past pupils with or with no disability, are presently employed in Corporations across the country or absorbed on merit by the State Government of Meghalaya. The teaching staff of the school includes teacher with disability who are qualified and trained, teaching All children. The most recent felicitation the School has received is the ‘Global Inclusive Education Network (GIEN) – Purple Innovator Award 2025 – 26’ for promoting Innovative Methodologies and Inclusive Practices in Education.
It has been a journey of forty years or so and none of it all would have been possible without the leadership and untiring mentorship of Dr Carmo D Noronha. I salute the Principal of the School, Ms. Larisa Nongspung, the teachers, all staff members, and all students for this achievement, with the selfless support of parents, members of the School Managing Committee and members of the Governing Body of Bethany Society, Meghalaya.
What is happening now in promoting the use of technology by students and teachers in all learning spaces is the partnership and networking with well-meaning organizations across the country that offer financial and expert support to the school. To put on record: Benetech India, Vision Empower – Bangalore, Samarthanam Trust – Bangalore, Mitra Jyothi – Bangalore, Mjunction – Kolkata, Indic AI – N.Delhi, Vision Aid India – Chennai, Enable India – Bangalore.
Our deepest appreciation and gratitude go to the Social Welfare Department, Meghalaya, the Education Department, the National Institutes and Individual mentors from universities and institutes across the country.We welcome educators, policy makers and friends to visit the Jyoti Sroat School for feedback that will contribute towards the further growth of the school and in learning together we subscribe to the cause of quality education.
Yours etc.,
Bertha G Dkhar,
Via email
