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Manipur readmitted 15,641 displaced students to schools: Education minister
The state education minister informed that the students were also provided with all facilities to overcome bottlenecks in their education, including identity cards. The number of schools in the state is 4,617, including 2,422 primary schools
Manipur government has readmitted 15,641 displaced students who are presently staying at 347 relief camps in the violence-hit border state, informed state education minister Thounaojam Basantakumar Singh on Thursday.
Basantakumar, along with commissioner (education) H Gyan Prakash and director (education-school) L Nandakumar Singh, held a media conference in Imphal and said, “This is 98.28% of the total displaced students (15,915) staying in the relief camps.”
He said that the students were admitted to nearby feasible schools free of cost.
The minister informed that the students were also provided with all facilities to overcome bottlenecks in their education, including identity cards. The number of schools in the state is 4,617, including 2,422 primary schools.
It may be mentioned that all the schools in Manipur were closed from May 4, 2023, onwards after the announcement of summer vacation from May 4 to May 30, 2023, and the issuance of subsequent orders in view of the ethnic conflict that has engulfed Manipur since May 3.
However, the normal classes resumed in most of the schools excluding 26 schools, which are being utilised as relief camps or for accommodation of central forces, in a phase-wise manner from July 4 onwards.
Stating that efforts are also on to reopen the remaining 26 schools, the state education minister said that a control room has been set up apart from appointing nodal officers to coordinate the displaced students.
Likewise, necessary steps are also being taken for 439 college students who are presently staying at relief camps apart from launching Chief Minister’s College Students Rehabilitation Scheme 2023 to ensure free admission, one-time rehabilitation grants and free smartphones to facilitate distant learning for the displaced college students, he said.
The classes of the college students started on September 6, 2023 onwards.
Meanwhile, the state government had also put up a proposal (for supplementary financial support to the displaced students) to the Central education ministry so that the department can provide required learning materials such as tablets for distance learning, whiteboard, textbooks, notebooks, stationery items, supplementary books, sports items, first aid kits and uniform, to students.
Basantakumar also assured that alternative modes of teaching-learning have been introduced to help the displaced students living in relief camps.
The department has started an educational TV channel namely “Lairik” which is available on Jio TV to provide e-learning content free of cost, said the minister.
Apart from this, the radio drama “Radio Class” is being aired by AIR Imphal, and a mobile app –“Lairik” is also available in the Play Store, which has over 1,300 video e-contents, the minister added.
