Staff Reporter

Shillong, Oct 27: The state government will soon take a call on
whether to make mathematics a compulsory subject in school education.

This decision was taken after a majority expressed the need to make mathematics as a compulsory subject during a meeting convened by the state education minister Rakkam A Sangma and Principals of over 30-40 secondary and higher secondary schools at the Secretariat today.

Speaking to reporters, Sangma said that many of the principals have raised concerns on the learning outcome and they have suggested the change of some textbooks to bring them at par with the national standard.

“Many are of the opinion to make mathematics compulsory but as of now, the government is yet to decide on this. We will examine the opinions and suggestions made by the principals,” he said while adding “I also personally feel and many academicians and principals also suggested that mathematics should not be made an optional paper as of now it is best of five out of six (subjects). Therefore, the government will take a decision in due process.”

The education minister said that 90 per cent of the students would opt out of mathematics.

“If we allow it, everybody wants to be in an easy and comfortable
zone. To me personally, if we allow mathematics to be an optional
paper, many students will opt out of it, that is for certain and that
is for sure but today at this generation, going for higher studies
without mathematics is something that is not appreciable but I think we are second to nobody, we can prepare well, we have the same brain with the rest of the globe and I think it is some we should decide and review,” he said.

Sangma further informed that the department has asked the Directorate of Educational Research and Training (DERT) to do research on the performance of the students before making mathematics an optional paper.

“(We want to know) how many students performed well in mathematics (before making it optional) and how many students have opted out of mathematics. All these we will get the data and we have requested the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) and DERT to give us detailed data so that we can better information and better understanding on this matter,” he said.

Further, the minister informed that the principals attending the
meeting also pointed out that the present existing textbooks are too lengthy, many things to read and so the learning outcome is very less.

In this regard, the textbook revision committee will be sitting on
October 31 to discuss the issue.

He said the DERT will also submit its recommendations and proposals before the committee.

“The DERT has been doing the exercise for the last six or seven
months. They are consulting the experts, academicians and students, so we will see what they will recommend,” Sangma said while adding that the DERT will present comparative studies being carried out and its recommendations.

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Sept 14: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today said issues related to the long pending boundary dispute with Assam can only be resolved through discussion and dialogue but not through confrontation.

His statement came after the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) Laban Circle had threatened to close down the Karbi Hemtun (Guest House) if the Karbi people and Assam government continue to illegally encroach and harass Khasi people in West Jaintia Hills District.

The Karbi Hemtun was inaugurated jointly by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of a function, Sangma said that confrontation is not the solution.

“We are in India and obviously we have to work and discuss matters and live in peace and harmony. There are challenges, there are complications which we have to work out but it cannot be worked out by confrontation. Solutions can only come with discussion and dialogue, with understanding and trust and hence we need to ensure that we build that trust with our counterparts, be firmed with our negotiations and our terms, find ways in which we can accommodate each other and obviously in important occasions like these, these are trust-building measures,” he said.

He added, “So tomorrow you want to put up a Meghalaya House in Assam or Guwahati and if somebody says well you cannot do it, I don’t think that is a trust-building mechanism.”

“Yes, I am not saying that there are no concerns, there are concerns but to resolve those concerns, confrontation is not the solution. We need to work together to build trust and in an amicable manner move forward and that is what the message was yesterday (during the inauguration of the Karbi House),” the CM said.

Meanwhile, Sangma informed that the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya will finalise a firm program related to the second phase of border talks, in the next couple of days.

The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) today extended its best wishes to four local youths, who will be participating in the World Pankration Championship to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Lozenza Songthiang, Francis RR Songthiang, Kyrshanbor R Songthiang and Nongkitboklang Songthiang will be leaving for Uzbekistan on April 30, to represent India in the world championship.

Leaders of KSU also met and wished all four success in the championship. This was informed by KSU publicity secretary Pynshai Rani in a statement issued here.