To ensure that the staff working in education and health sectors are regularly attending their duties, Chief Minister N Biren Singh has stated their photographs will be displayed at their respective hospitals and schools where they are posted by August.
CM Biren was speaking during the demand and discussion session of demand number 10 - Education on the floor of the ongoing state legislative assembly session.
Biren said that the present government gives great importance to the education and health sectors. The state government will not compromise these sectors at any costs, he said. The employees should stop making requests for posting at nearby or comfortable places.
ALSO READ: CM Biren warns against unauthorised village recognition in Manipur
The state government had decided to display photographs of every teacher and non-teachings staff at their respective schools where they are posted by August, he said.
This new rule will be applied at every school from primary to higher secondary in the valley districts and from primary to class X, including ADCs schools in hill areas, he added.
A similar system will also be applied to staff working in health sectors, he further said, adding, the installation of biometric systems was also started in many places and they will also be completed soon.
Education Minister Th Basantakumar while responding to a cut motion, said that the Central government had approved a sum of Rs 3 crore for the construction of Command and Control Centre for Education under recent Project Approval Board of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
The main objective of the Command and Control Centre for Education System is to monitor the entire educational set up of the state, he said. To improve the educational system of the state, the government is trying to get funds of corporate social responsibility from Infosys Company at the tune of Rs 25 crore, he added. The memorandum of understanding will be signed between the state government and the company soon, he mentioned.
ALSO READ: Manipur financial condition stable: CM Biren
He further said that the state is facing shortages of manpower in the education sector and the vacant posts will be filled up soon. There are as many as 7,211 vacant posts of graduate teachers, of which recruitment of 2,058 was already carried out and the result will be declared soon. Remaining vacancies will be filled up soon, he added.
The process for appointment of 450 assistant professors has already started. Besides, 502 teachers, which is equivalent to 18.8 per cent of total post, are lying vacant in many government colleges, he said. For this as well, recruitment would be carried out at earliest through Manipur Public Service Commission. The number of vacancies for principal post is 15, of which eight of the institutes have regular vice-principals, he further said. The process to promote them through MPSC will be taken up, he added.
Basantakumar said that in view of effective implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, four integrated teaching programmes will be opened up in five colleges. They are Churachandpur College, Manipur College, Liberal College, Pettigrew College, Lilong College and Thoubal College, he said.
The state government has taken up all necessary steps for proper implementation of NEP 2020. The state government is complying with most of the tasks of NEP 2020 which the Central government had advised, he said. Recently, the Central government has sent 201 tasks, of which 72 tasks were completed. Amongst the Northeasters states, Manipur is far ahead in implementation of NEP 2020, he added. The average percentage of the country for implementation of NEP 2020 is around 30 per cent whereas Manipur stood at around 34-35 per cent (percent counted based on fulfilment of the given task), he mentioned.
He also said that the state government is under discussion to amend the transfer and posting policy for teachers and non-teaching staff. Rationalisation of teachers will also be looked into, he further said, adding, the pending promotion of staff would be cleared soon.
ALSO READ: Release ATSUM leaders and talk: Ram Muivah
He continued that with the help of School Fagathansi Mission, so many changes were brought to the state in the education sector and as a result, enrolment has also been increased. This mission is one of the big reasons Manipur bagged the award of most innovative state given by NITI Aayog, he added.
Basantakumar said that the state has not received any order or instructions from the Central government for inclusion of Hindi as compulsory subject till class X. Rather, the state government is taking up the initiative for promotion of local languages, he added.
To promote weavers of the state, the state government will procure ‘Phanek’ for the government schools students studying in the class IX, he further said. He also clarified that the weavers of the state are unable to provide uniforms for government school students from class I-VIII. Free uniforms are provided to altogether 1,42,569 students from class I to VIII. The local weavers are unable to provide all required uniforms and therefore, they have procured through a tender process, he added.
The cut motion was moved by Congress MLAs namely K Ranjit Singh, K Meghachandra Singh, Th Lokeshwar Singh and Surjakumar Singh.
They moved the cut motion on various areas. Some of them are on the need of policy to study centre’s decision for inclusion of Hindi as compulsory subjects; need to maintain teaching staffs for primary schools and colleges; need for improvement of School Phagathansi Mission; lack of proper policy for transfer and posting of teachings and non-teaching staffs; lack of proper policy to fill up vacant post, and inability to provide locally produced handloom uniforms etc.
