XIV. REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON NORTH EASTERN STATES
Chairman : Shri P.G. Momin
Education Minister
Government of Meghalaya
Rapporteur : Shri P.J. Bazeley, I.A.S.
Education Secretary
Government of Meghalaya.
The Working Group on the North Eastern States met under the Chairmanship of Shri P.G. Momin, Education Minister, Government of Meghalaya on 5th and 6th May, 1992 in Shastri Bhavan at New Delhi and deliberated upon various issues and special problems concerning Education in the North Eastern States. Participants are listed in the Annexure.
The Group noted with satisfaction that the recommendations of the Janardhana Reddy Committee and the Revised NPE Formulation which had been circulated to CABE Members did not modify the existing provisions of Para 4.1 and Para 4.7 of the NPE 1986 which provide as follows :-
4.1 The new policy will lay special emphasis on the removal disparities and to equalise educational opportunity by attending to the specific needs of those who have been denied equality so far.
4.2 Suitable incentives will be provided to all educationally backward sections of society particularly in the rural areas. Hill and desert
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districts, remote and inaccessible areas and islands will be provided adequate institutional infrastructure.
The Working deliberated at length on the scope and necessity of special measures for the removal of disparities, equalisation of educational opportunity and bridging the gaps of the specially educational backward North Eastern States.
The Working Group were unanimous in their view that unless adequate institutional infrastructure is provided to the educationally backward States in furtherance of the provisions of para 4.7 of the NPE 1986 it would neither be possible to universalise elementary education, nor ensure universal access and enrolment, nor attain universal retention of children upto 14 years of age nor achieve any substantial improvement in the quality of elementary, secondary, higher or technical education. In arriving at this consensus, the Group was categoric that the extremely poor existing standards of Primary Education in the North Eastern States was germane to the poor standards of secondary and higher education. Although the State Governments of the North East were fully alive to and aware of the gross infrastructural inadequacies in the sphere of their primary education network, the States did not have the required resources to bridge the infrastructural gaps. Consequently, it would not be possible for such inadquacies to be removed unless the North Eastern States were specially assisted under a centrally funded programme. It would also be necessary to adopt flexible norms and eligibility criteria in order to ensure that minimum levels
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of institutional infrastructure conducive to universalisation of elementary education in particular and upgradation of the quality and standards of education in general were created.
The Working Group then deliberated upon focal infrastructural inadquacies relating to education in the NE States and unanimously suggested that the undermentioned measures be incorporated in the Programme of Action -
I. Elementary Education 1) The Group noted that keeping in view the terrain and demography of the North Eastern Region, the eligibility norms for educational infrastructure be relaxed and made flexible to enable creation of minimum basic infrastructure essential for attaining the goals proposed by the Revised Para 5.5 of the Draft Revised NPE Formulation.
2) The Operation Blackboard (OB) Scheme be suitably modified in respect of North Eastern States to include funding of construction of three-roomed primary school buildings inclusive of the cost of minimum levels of basic teaching equipment and teaching aids to all Primary schools which presently lack the same, within the Eighth Plan Period, under a centrally-funded programme.
3) All existing single-teacher and two-teacher primary schools be provided with a minimum of three teachers in relaxation of general norms as a part of OB programme within the Eighth Plan Period under a centrally-funded
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scheme.
4) To preempt absenteeism of primary school teachers and to provide incentive for mofussil teachers to reside in the rural areas where local teachers are not available, the cost of establishing minimum level of teachers' accommodation be provided under centrally funded OB Programme.
5) Cost ceilings of teaching aids under OB Programme be suitably revised since NCERT approved organisations had failed to meet the North Eastern States' requirement and such teaching aids could not be manufactured locally within prescribed costs.
6) Suitable centrally sponsored schemes may be formulated for provision of incentive to ensure that existing high Drop-out rates in Elementary Schools is reduced.
II. Training i) To improve the quality of teaching and to train the large number of untrained teachers, a Resource Personnel Training Centre with adequate hostel facilities be established in each North Eastern State under a Centrally funded programme.
ii) Minimum infrastructure for decentralised district level capsulised training of untrained teachers be provided under a Centrally-funded programme inclusive of training costs.
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III. Secondary Education 1) Norms for the Centrally-funded scheme for improvement of Science Education in secondary and higher secondary schools be modified in respect of North Eastern States to include cost of construction of a suitable sized science room (laboratory).
2) A centrally-funded scheme be launched for consolidation of secondary education infrastructure inclusive of costs for providing hostel facilities in existing hostel-less secondary schools in rural areas, to facilitate education of mofussil students.
3) A centrally-funded programme be undertaken to provide minimum level of residential accommodation for Science, Mathematics and Hindi Teachers of secondary schools in rural areas with a view to ensuring availability of accommodation for such teachers, most of whom are essentially from urban areas of the State or other parts of the country.
IV. Higher Education 1) Need-based centrally funded programme be undertaken to enable expansion of existing colleges.
2) More colleges be funded by the UGC under relaxed norms to enable students to secure higher education outside urban centres.
3) Adequate facilities be established by U.G.C. in the NE Region for enabling college teachers to undergo prescribed professional advancement programmes.
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4) The establishment of the North Eastern Regional Centre of the UGC be taken up on priority to enable UGC to concentrate attention on the educational inadequacies of the region.
V. Vocational Education 1) Establishment of a Regional Vocational Training Centre to coordinate the research and training component of vocationalisation of education be centrally-funded. The Centre may be established as an integral part of NERIST at Itanagar.
2) Suitable measures be taken to facilitate ultimate self-employment of vocational education passed-outs by establishing necessary linkages with financial institutions and imparting vocational education in limited location and area-specific streams.
VI. Technical Education 1) To cater for the technical manpower requirements of the NE States whose development is handicapped for want of technical personnel, one more Regional Engineering College be established in the NE Region.
2) To bridge the gap till such time as the additional Regional Engineering College is established, the quota of engineering seats allotted to hilly States of the NE Regional be adequately increased.
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VII. Adult Education 1) The centre-based approach for AE be allowed to continue in the NE States keeping in view the difficulty to launch TLM in the rural areas as a consequence of all colleges being located in limited urban centres.
VIII. Promotion of Hindi The Group unanimously felt that in order to accelerate the process of National Integration and to promote gradual voluntary acceptance of the official Language of the Union, large allocations should be made for the schemes relating to appointment of Hindi Teachers and promotion of Hindi.
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Annexure
Names of Participants in the Working Group
on the North Eastern States
1. Shri P.G. Momim Chairman
Education Minister
Government of Meghalaya
Shillong
2. Dr. B. Barman
Minister for Education
Government of Assam
Dispur (Assam).
3. Shri R. Dev Barma
Minister of Education
Govt. of Tripura
Agartala.
4. Shri R.K. Khrimey
Minister of Education
Government of Arunachal Pradesh
Itanagar.
5. Shri S. Prakash
Secretary (Education)
Government of Tripura
Agartala.
6. Shri P.J. Bazeley
Special Secretary
Government of Meghalaya
Shillong.
7. Shri P.L. Thanga
Commissioner (Education)
Government of Manipur
Imphal.
8. Shri F. Lallura
Joint Director (School Education)
Government of Mizoram
Aizawl.
9. Shri Talitsuba
Director of School Education
Government of Nagaland
Kohima.
10. Shri G.C. Yadave
Director of Public Instructions
Government of Assam
Dispur.
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11. Shri A.K. Gayan
Director of Public instruction
Government of Assam
Dispur.
12. Dr. S.K. Chattopadhyay
Joint DPI
Government of Meghalaya
Shillong.
13. Shri S. Roy
Director of Public Instructions
Government of Meghalaya
Shillong.
14. Dr.(Mrs) I.K. Barthakur
Principal Adviser
Planning Commission
New Delhi.
15. Shri Priyardarshi Thakur
Joint Secretary (L&ET)
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Department of Education
New Delhi.
16. Shri Naved Masood
Director (ET)
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Department of Education
New Delhi.
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