Shillong: Meghalaya is amongst the few States in the country where an early childhood education programme has started, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Friday.
Inaugurating the new building of the Directorate of Education Research and Training (DERT) – Annexe here, Sangma said that the objective of early childhood education is to ensure that the learning capabilities of the child are tapped to its optimum potential.
The Chief Minister informed that his government is laying emphasis to improve elementary education in the State and has come up with a road map to invest in early childhood education programmes.
Talking about the performance of the children in higher examinations, Sangma noted that the problem was lack of quality education at the pre and elementary level and hence the Government has come up with a mechanism to provide holistic education from early childhood.
“The government has been making investments to overhaul the education infrastructure, teachers training at the grassroot level to ensure an enabling environment for learning,” he said.
Moreover, he said that the government has earmarked Rs. 300 crore from the externally aided projects to make investment in early childhood education programmes.
He said that different interventions will be made through the programme to ensure that a child grows up in an environment where the entire learning exercise is productive.
The Chief Minister said that the education sector has been accorded priority as through different initiatives the government aims to achieve the larger goal of making each individual productive that will enable every individual to contribute for the growth and development of the State.
Speaking about positioning Meghalaya as top 10 States in the country in the next 10 years, the Chief Minister said that through the education sector teachers can play a pivotal role in shaping the youth, who will become productive citizens of the country.
He also urged the teachers to equip themselves with better teaching techniques in sync with the time.
On the newly inaugurated DERT– Annexe building, Sangma said, the DERT will not be just training teachers but would work together to ensure the larger interest of the State to shape the future of our children and the State.
“Through this institute we will ensure that the young students of our State get the right platform to unleash their learning capabilities and which in turn will take Meghalaya forward,” he added.
An estimated amount of ₹ 8. 33 cr has been spent on the construction of the building, which was funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB.
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said that through this training institute teachers will be given the best training.
He said that the Covid-19 pandemic had posed a challenge for the education sector but then it gave opportunity for the policy makers to introduce new interventions in the teaching sector.
