RTE to become effective from April in Meghalaya
Shillong, Mar 14: Meghalaya governor RS Mooshahary today said the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 would become effective in the state from April next.
"The government is taking steps to ensure all the provisions of the Act are complied with, taking local situation under consideration," he said while addressing the first day of the budget session of the recently-constituted Assembly.
He said the government would also further improve in infrastructure and training of teachers on the basis of GIS and school data at field level.
"A detailed plan and budget has been formulated for plugging infrastructure gaps and will be submitted to the Centre government for funding support," Mr Mooshahary added.
A total of 7, 822 teachers at the elementary level will be undergoing training through distance method imparted in collaboration with the National Institute for Open Schools (NIOS) from April next, the Governor said, adding that provision for free textbooks for children of all government and government-aided schools will continue.
The Governor further said infrastructure for scaling up training capacity for all section of teachers is being put in place.
Stating the government was committed to improve the quality of teachers and learning outcomes in the state, he said, "Teacher Training Institutes (TTI) at the block level and a B.Ed college at Jowai in West Jaintia hills district will be set up Assistance to all categories of ad hoc aided schools has been enhanced to enable better salaries to teachers."
Mr Mooshahary also informed the scheme for construction of residential schools will continue so as to cover all the blocks, and the foundation stone for the permanent NIT campus at Sohra has been laid even as it is presently operating from its temporary campus.
On information technology, the governor said under the Digital Learning Scheme, the department will shortly be providing tablets to students of all higher secondary schools in the state, with full course syllabus content of MBOSE as well as CBSE for science, commerce and humanities streams.
"In addition, the tablets will have contents of competitive examinations like IIT-JEE as well as medical entrance to help students prepare and gear up for these tests," he said.
"The teachers will also be provided with teaching aid material in the form of Tablet PCs to be linked with overhead projectors for modern and attractive teaching methods to ensure better student interaction and participation," he added.