ITANAGAR, March 20 � The Arunachal Assembly today unanimously passed the Arunachal Pradesh Education Bill, 2010, paving the way for bringing the much-needed reform in the �dwindling� education sector of the state.
Acknowledging the suggestions put forward by Members during the four-and-half-hours-long marathon discussion on the Bill, Education Minister Bosiram Siram said all should go for �self-introspection� to improve the present education scenario in the state. He said Arunachal has the lowest literacy rate (54.74 percent) in the whole of Northeast region, while Manipur has 88.84 percent, the second highest literary rate in the country.
Without blaming anyone, he said, �We are accustomed of seeking our demands including pay structure as per the Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations fulfilled, but are lagging far behind in discharging our duties.�
Pitching for imparting student-oriented teaching to the children as per their needs, Siram, who himself is a teacher, told the House that all the untrained teachers will be trained for bringing qualitative change in the education sector, adding that he has already asked the Itanagar regional center of IGNOU to increase its intake capacity for BEd course.
�We need to have a quality recruitment mechanism to have quality teachers for imparting quality education to our children,� he emphatically said.
On transfer and posting of teachers, the education minister said every new recruit will have to serve in interior areas for 2+2+2=6 years on rotation basis, two years each in hard areas followed by three years each in semi-hard areas and five years each in soft posting areas subject to availability of vacancy.
He also underscored the need to banning private tuition, as practiced by the government teachers, for improving the education sector. He also sought to bring reform in educational administrative system for efficient monitoring of implementation of several welfare schemes in the state.
Participating in the discussion on the Bill, Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, while praising all the stakeholders, including the drafting committee towards the formulation of the Bill, said that the government will try its level best for improving the present education system, besides ensuring accommodation facilities to teachers in interior areas. He also said that the government will build earthquake-resistant school buildings in all parts of the state, which is very prone to tremors.
Several Members including Congress� Nabam Rebia and JK Panggeng, BJP�s Dr Tangor Tapak, Tapen Siga and Tamiyo Taga, NCP�s Jomin Tayen, Ralom Borang and PPA�s Er Markio Tado took part in the discussion and gave numerous suggestions to the government towards improving the deteriorating education scenario of the state.
