SHILLONG, JUN 9: Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on Wednesday said the Centre’s Performance Grading Index report is an eye opener for the state government to further improve the school infrastructure and quality of education in the state.
Meghalaya has been listed as one among the worst performers in school education as per the report released by the Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently.
“I am very glad that the government of India in the last three years has published this type of report as it will open our eyes that as policy makers we need to do more,” Rymbui told reporters.
He said that the state was given 649 of 1,000 points by the government of India.
“The fact of the matter is that Meghalaya has improved in these last 3 years. In 2017-18, the score was 584 and it increased to 610 in 2018-19,” Rymbui said, adding this is because of the different initiatives being taken by the state government.
According to him, over 200 lower primary schools were given additional classrooms during the last three years.
Expressing his thankfulness to the chief minister for ensuring education sector as the government’s top priority, Rymbui said Rs 100 crore will be invested during the current financial year for upgrading the infrastructures of over 200 government schools from primary to higher secondary level.
“Another 375 schools will also be provided with (good) infrastructure by next year,” he added.
According to him, more than 1,000 schools need improvement of their infrastructures.
The education minister further stated that the Centre’s report was of 2019-20. “What we were doing last year and this year, it will reflect in the next report of the government of India,” he said.
Asked if the report reflects badly on the performance of the MDA government, Rymbui said, “I am very thankful to the chief minister that he understands the need to improve the school infrastructures and it is the first time that from the state fund that 100 crore will be pumped only on this primary to higher secondary schools.”
He however said that streamlining the education sector in the state is a big challenge due to the presence of multiple categories of schools and teachers.
Highlighting on some of the measures taken up by the government to improve the quality of the education in the state, Rymbui said over 19,306 teachers were trained in 2020-21, distribution of textbooks, expanding ICT and computer aided learning to 50 government schools and others.
By Our Reporter
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