Itanagar, Mar 7: The state government is focusing on strengthening elementary education to improve the state's overall education scenario, minister Passang Dorjee Sona said on Friday.
Sona, the education minister, was speaking in the assembly a day after tabling the 'Roadmap of Education Scenario of the State' report under the 'Mission Shikshit Arunachal 2029'.
Noting the dismal condition of the education sector in the state, Sona sought the cooperation of all MLAs.
"What we lack is political will. We must take decisive action to improve our education system. Help the government by not interfering in the transfer and postings of teachers. Initial challenges will be addressed over time," he said.
"We visited each district to assess challenges, before preparing this report. We were transparent about our limitations. The three-year deadline is set to ensure we work in a mission-driven approach," he added.
The Education Department organised a three-day 'Chintan Shivir-cum-Education Conclave' in August, bringing together teachers, students' union members, school management committees, NGOs, community organisations, government officials, and elected representatives.
"Following the conclave, an educational tour was conducted across districts between September and October to facilitate school consolidation proposals. This tour aimed to ensure clear communication of the vision and alignment with district-level stakeholders," Sona said.
He emphasised that reformative initiatives and a mission-driven approach are necessary to create a future-ready education system that ensures quality learning for every child.
Achieving this goal requires continuous cooperation and collaboration across all levels of the Education Department, he said.
"In line with this vision, we developed 'Mission Shikshit Arunachal 2029' to drive transformative change in education," he noted.
The roadmap is built on four key pillars of reform -- strengthening competency-based learning, enhancing teacher and system officials' capacity, improving educational infrastructure, and optimising human resources, the minister said.
"The report was tabled to invite constructive inputs from all members, irrespective of party affiliations, to further strengthen our education system," Sona said.
He said that suggestions from the legislators would be incorporated into the roadmap.
Sona said an assessment of infrastructure gaps in all schools is underway.
"We are also focusing on teacher training to equip them with modern teaching methods and to adapt to the evolving education landscape," he said.
To ensure transparency in teacher transfers and postings, the government plans to launch a dedicated portal, eliminating political interference in the process.
Arunachal Pradesh has 3,496 schools across 28 districts, with a total enrollment of 2.72 lakh students. Among them are 396 schools with no students, 1,408 schools with fewer than 30 students, and 616 single-teacher schools.
The state has a teaching workforce of 23,224 -- 10,011 regular and 5,391 contractual teachers.
In the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021, students in the state scored an average of 43 per cent.
Only 49 per cent of students passed the class 10 board exams last year, a slight improvement from the previous academic year, when the pass rate stood at 39 per cent. PTI