Education on revamp mode in Meghalaya
– Chief Minister Shri Conrad K Sangma remains steadfast in his commitment to improving the overall educational outcome in the state
Shillong: While being committed to the larger cause of improving educational outcomes in the state, Meghalaya Chief Minister Shri Conrad K Sangma remains upbeat about the various initiatives and policies being undertaken. For instance, the Meghalaya Education Policy has considered different scenarios and has given priority to streamlining the education sector in the state and providing an ideal environment for the students to excel and grow.
According to Shri Sangma, in the next six months, the Meghalaya government will roll out a scheme to ensure that a suitable infrastructure is created in primary and elementary-level schools across the state.
Incidentally, in August 2020, Shri Sangma had announced that Meghalaya would be the first state in the country to implement the new National Education Policy (NEP) and a task force was to be constituted for this purpose.
For the state of Meghalaya to remain progressive, there is a need to prioritise and introduce timely efforts towards the improvement of education at the grassroots level. Education sector needs to become smart and global through various digital initiatives and the state government remains committed to achieving this.
The chief minister remains committed to the cause of early childhood education, which is a key priority for Meghalaya. However, various challenges need to be addressed on a priority basis, including lack of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, untrained staff, low quality of learning outcomes and urban-rural disparity, to list a few.
Addressing this need, a proposal was put forward to the Chief Minister by Ampersand Group, a leading public-private partnership (PPP) partner in the national and local government’s endeavour of transforming the state of education and infrastructure. Shri Sangma acknowledged the efforts of Ampersand Group and directed the education department to take the discussions forward in a tweet on November 2, 2020.
“The honorable Chief Minister’s commitment to improving the quality of education is noteworthy and his vision of transforming nearly 6,000 Anganwadicentres into ‘Centres of Joyful Learning’ will help lay a firm foundation for cognitive and social development of every child while the technology led intervention will provide an alternate opportunity for dropouts to go back to learning,” said MrRustomKerawalla, Chairman, Ampersand Group.
“This intervention is particularly important to the first generation learners in rural areas and will enable their smooth transition to primary school. Further, Anganwadi centres would need adequate training for teachers on the latest pedagogical approaches along with focus on child nutrition to facilitate a smooth transition,” added Mr. Kerawalla.