State

State to construct new school buildings

Shillong, July 1: Amid recurring reports about dilapidated school buildings, Education Minister Rakkam Sangma told reporters on Tuesday that the education mission phase-IV will take care of construction of over 150 new government lower primary school buildings across the state.

“The phase-IV has started and we will be calling a tender at the earliest when we get the approval from the finance department. So, we are waiting for the sanction for another 100-150 new buildings for the government LP school,” he said.

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The state government has made significant progress in renovating and constructing school buildings in the past four to five years, he said.

Over 2,000 lower primary government schools have been renovated, and more than 500 new LP school buildings have been constructed.

The minister emphasized that addressing deteriorated school buildings has been a long-standing issue for the Meghalaya government.

Sangma highlighted that the previous government had neglected school infrastructure for 20-30 years, but the current MDA government has prioritized renovating and constructing new buildings for all government institutions.

In his own constituency, Sangma has renovated over 45 ad hoc and SSA schools under the SRWP scheme.

The minister urged the legislators and MPs to contribute towards improving school infrastructure, stressing that it is a significant challenge in the state’s education sector.

People’s Colleges 

Sangma said the sanctioning of 21 People’s Colleges across the state has helped to reduce the burden of admission in educational institutions located in Shillong.

The People’s Colleges have spread to all districts of the state, thereby decentralizing higher education and reducing the pressure on colleges in Shillong.

The minister attributed the success of the initiative to the leadership of the Chief Minister.

Sangma said while expanding access to higher education is important, the quality of education should not be compromised. The government is working on the issue, and the minister assured that  new colleges would meet the required standards.
Recruitment of teachers 

He announced that the process of recruiting teachers for lower primary schools is almost complete.

“I am reviewing the matter again and again. The Baghmara, South Garo Hills district has already advertised vacancies six months ago, while the roster preparation is still ongoing in other districts,” Sangma said.

The  government expects to issue advertisements for teacher recruitment in all districts within a week. He emphasized that the delay is due to technical complexities, but he is working to expedite the process to ensure that schools are not left without teachers.

He said there are over 600 vacancies in government lower primary schools and 150-200 vacancies in higher secondary schools.

The government will upgrade secondary schools to higher secondary schools, with over 30 schools upgraded this year.

There will be establishment of an evening section in Kiang Nangbah to cater to the increased number of SSLC passed candidates.

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