Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, May 08: The salaries of the teachers working under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan will be hiked to Rs 9000 and teachers teaching in hard areas will get hard area allowance of Rs 3000 soon.
In a press conference held at the Conference hall of Secretariat today at 4:30 pm, the Secretary Education, Mr Devinder Singh Nedger said that the teachers of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan who were getting a salary of Rs 18000 will start getting a salary of Rs 27000 soon for which the department is just waiting for an approval.
During the press conference the Secretary Education briefed about the objectives of the department and said that the department’s aim is to achieve 100% enrolment of school going age population and zero drop out of school going age population which is in few words the motto of the department and to improve overall literacy from 86.60% to 100%, Mr Nedger said.
“National figures of girl child school going population was 76% and in coming three years the government will try to improve it to 79% but I am very happy to say that in Andaman the school going age girl percentage is 97% and we will try our best to take it forward to 100%,” Mr Nedger said.
The Department has 330 government schools 115 other schools in which maximum are private, some are local body run etc.
“86460 students were enrolled last year in the islands, the department has a teaching staff of 5574 and 903 is our non teaching staffs therefore total 6477 plus few part timers and therefore education department is also one of the biggest employers,” Mr Nedger added.
The Centrally sponsored schemes of MHRD indirectly is very successful in the Andamans as from class 1-8 students are provided with cooked mid day meal and the specialty here is twice a week the children are given boiled eggs and 155 grams of banana which is over and above the mandate of scheme and this is done utilizing the UT budget, Mr Nedger further added.
Hostel stipend to hosteliers currently being provided @ Rs 1000/- per month is proposed to be enhanced to Rs 1500/-. Scholarships for higher studies in mainland, financial assistance to ST candidates studying in mainland (School/Higher education), free textbooks, notebooks, stationery etc, free uniforms, attendance scholarship, Post Matric Scholarship are among other incentives provided to school students, he said.
Highlighting some major achievements in the year 2014-15, the Secretary informed that construction of a new Boys Hostel at Port Blair has been completed and is set for inauguration soon. Besides, 26 additional classrooms have been constructed in various schools in various parts of these islands, 21 Toilet Blocks in various schools have been upgraded, 3 schools, GMS Pinaki Nagar (Middle to Secondary), GMS Kuitasuk, Chowra (Middle to Secondary) and GPS Laxmanpur (Primary to Middle) have been upgraded and English medium has been introduced in 10 schools in various parts of these islands.
Elaborating on the future roadmap, Mr Singh said that the administration plans to upgrade infrastructure in 46 Senior Secondary and 42 Secondary Schools in South, North and Middle and Nicobar Districts with smart classrooms and e-learning facilities, introduce vocational courses in schools, introduce Like Skill Programmes viz. Disaster Management, Scout and Guides, Yoga, Meditation, Self Defence, NCC etc, open a Sainik School and promote Information and Communication Technology system in schools and higher education.
In the Higher Education sector, plans are afoot to establish a Central University which will act as a centre of excellence and research in higher education, set up a National Institute of Technology for the islands, expansion of existing colleges and introduction of new courses and increase in intake of existing courses and establishment of a Community College in Ferrargunj.
Lauding the sports fraternity for bringing laurels to the islands in various national and international events, Mr Singh reiterated his commitment to provide better infrastructure for budding sports talents. As part of expansion of infrastructure, construction of Mini Stadium at Junglighat and Haddo, development of Laltha Singh Ground, Haddo and Multipurpose Hall at Kanyapuram are currently in progress. Besides derecognizing nine defunct sports associations, the A & N State Sports Council has also been reconstituted with the Chief Secretary elected as President and the Director General of Police as Vice President, he informed.
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