Those torching schools biggest enemies of country: Javadekar

In an apparent reference to naxals, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today said those setting schools on fire, were the biggest enemies of the country and a reply was being given to them through education.
The Human Resource Development Minister was addressing the opening ceremony of the two-day first regional workshop on 'Innovation and best practices in education' held by Eastern region of Ministry of HRD here, an official statement said.
"Those who set ablaze schools are the biggest enemies of the country. Reply is being given (to them) by restoring basic education facilities in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region and imparting education through porta cabin schools," the release quoted Javadekar as saying.

He said the renovation of porta cabin schools will be done soon as per the demand made by the state government.
"For the renovation of 24 porta cabin schools being operated in Bastar and construction of hostels there, a sum of Rs 100 crore has been approved," he said adding that now such schools will have classes upto X instead of the earlier VIII.
"Besides, the schools in the state will also be given tablets for its online monitoring and a project worth Rs 100 crore for the purpose has been approved," he said.

Under both the projects, the Centre will contribute 60 per cent of the project cost, while the state willput in40 per cent, he added.

Asserting that the Centre was moving ahead with the motto 'sabko shiksha, acchhi shiksha' (good education to all), Javadekar said the government has been spending Rs 70,000 crore on the education system every year.
"4.5 per cent of country's GDP is being spent on the education (sector). But the need is to improve the quality of education," he underlined.
Teachers, society and parents of students need to realise their responsibility towards children's education, he said. "There is a need to put an end to the way of thinking that only English medium schools provide good education," the minister added.
Javadekar said the states would be empowered for detention of under-performing students in class V and VIII.

"The Centre has put a condition that states will allow a re-test in June for those students, who were unable to clear the final exam conducted in March. If the students again failed in the second exam, he/she can be detained," the union minister said.
To enhance the quality of education, training of teachers was necessary ahead of joining the service as well as during their service, he said.
As many as 6,000 colleges providing Bachelors in Education degree have been issued show-cause notices for not complying with the laid norms, he said.
"It is mandatory for students pursuing B.Ed from private colleges to take teaching experience from government schools," he added.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Raman Singh briefed about the schemes and projects for education and improving its quality in the state.
In the workshop, school education department officials, teachers, educationists and others from West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Andma Nicobar Islands were present.