Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 571/19

CHIEF SECRETARY HOLDS REVIEW MEETING WITH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS AT TURA

Meghalaya Chief Secretary, Shri P S Thangkhiew held a high level Review Meeting with the officers of the Education Department at Circuit House, Tura yesterday evening. Principal Secretary, Incharge Education, Shri D P Wahlang, Executive Chairman, Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) Tura, M H K Marak, Director, School Education and Literacy (DSEL) Shillong, Shri Ambrose Marak, Director, Educational Research & Training Shillong, Ashis M Sangma, Controller of Examinations, MBOSE Tura, T R Laloo, Director, MBOSE, Tura R R Marak, Deputy Commissioners and District School Education Officers of entire Garo Hills Districts were among others present at the meeting.

Initiating the discussion, the Meghalaya Chief Secretary, Shri P S Thangkhiew apprised the officials that the meeting has been scheduled as per the direction of the Chief Minister, Shri Conrad K Sangma to scrutinize and analyze the performance of the schools of Garo Hills region for improvement of results in the board examinations. He also enquired about the vast difference in performance of various private and government schools and to find out the reasons concerning this issue.

Principal Secretary, Shri D P Wahlang while stating the purpose of the meeting said that the department needs to find out data analysis of the performance of schools in the region and also to make assessment of zero enrollment in schools including identifying bad or non-performing schools and the kind of support required by these schools in the region.

In the discussion that followed, the Deputy Commissioners also stated various issues of their respective districts such as long winter vacation after which the student directly appears for the class X final examinations, incomplete syllabus, irregular classes, giving holidays on weekly market days especially in rural areas, etc. In addition to these, the benefits, pros and cons of Pre-Board or Selection Test for SSLC Examination was also discussed during the meeting in which most of the officers of Education department presented their view and opinions but could not come to conclusion and therefore, it was decided that the same be discussed in detail at a later stage.

Earlier, during the meeting, Principal Consultant, Project Managing Unit, DSEL, Shillong D Lyngdoh presented a power point presentation on the Methodology of Grade Project prepared by the department for data grouping and categorization done for easier analysis of 533 schools of Garo Hills region. According to the presentation there are about 150 to 200 high risk schools in Garo Hills region out of which West Garo Hills has the highest number of high risk schools.

Further, in his concluding remark, Shri D P Wahlang informed that the Academic Calendar issued by the Government of Meghalaya for the schools should be strictly followed by all the schools, take regular classes and the District School Education Officers were instructed to inspect the schools of their respective districts to monitor their routine activities and overall performance and improvement of pass percentage of the students in Garo Hills region. He also directed the South West Garo hills Deputy Commissioner, Shri Ram Kumar to go on with the pilot project with regard to the implementation of education project in the district.