NAMSAI, 15 Jul: Expressing concern over the dismal performance of the government schools across the state, particularly those in Namsai district, in the CBSE exams, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein convened a meeting here on Saturday to discuss the reasons behind the poor results, and to devise a mechanism to improve the quality of education.
Stressing on the role of the teachers in moulding the students, Mein asked the teaching community to “develop a sense of responsibility and belongingness towards your schools and students.”
He said that the “declining performance in the school education of the state is a major concern for all,” and stressed on “identifying remedial measures to improve the education scenario.”
Taking note of the disproportionate student-teacher ratio in government schools, the DCM said that “a little rationalisation with regard to the posting of subject teachers is the need of the hour.”
He also assured that the government would “look into the infrastructure and faculty requirements in the region to further support the education system.”
“With a view to enhance the quality of education across the state, the state government will also be taking up a model school in every constituency, with a fund provision of Rs 10 crore per school,” he said, and exhorted the SMCs and the SDMCs to “play a proactive role to oversee the functioning of the schools,” and asked them to “convene a meeting of CBOs and NGOs to have more deliberations on the matter, so as to find out an effective remedial measure.”
He said also that “CBOs and NGOs should come forward and adopt some schools and monitor their functioning.”
Urging the schools’ authorities to adopt the latest technologies to improve the education system in the state, Mein cited the examples of the ‘HamaraVidhyalaya’ dashboard, through which one can monitor the functioning of schools as well as oversee the availability of adequate facilities, and ‘ASILIA’, an e-fencing-based attendance monitoring system, to do away with teacher absenteeism.
Namsai DC CR Khampa informed that the district “stands in the third rank from the bottom in the state and also the third rank from the bottom amongst the aspirational districts in the country.”
Saying that “one of the reasons could be the students dismissing their studies after school hours and lack of a congenial atmosphere for study at home,” he urged the teachers to “go a little beyond your formal duties and visit every student’s home to counsel their parents for creating a congenial atmosphere for studying at home.”
Besides calling for “conducting a minimum of four meetings of the school management committees on a quarterly basis,” he warned that stringent disciplinary action as per the CCS would be initiated against teachers who remain absent during duty hours.
DDSE Koing Samon Umbon informed that “at present, Namsai district has 187 schools, 711 teachers and 1,1873 students, and 25 guest teachers have been appointed through the MLALAD fund, through which the gap in subject teachers will be filled up.”
DPO Keshab Sharma presented a brief on the facilities available in the schools through the HamaraVidhyalaya dashboard.
Lekang MLA Jummum Ete Deori also spoke.
The meeting was attended by, among others, school heads, teachers, the CDPO, and anganwadi mentors. (DCMs PR Cell)