Okendro bats for Mission schools
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 09 2015 :
Education Minister M Okendro has appealed to all concerned to make all educational institutions of the State disturbance free zones.
The Minister made the appeal in the wake of the indefinite closure of Catholic schools following a ban imposed by a particular UG group.
A complaint letter submitted to the State Government by the Catholic Educational Society which sought conducive atmosphere for running Catholic schools without undue interference was discussed at length during a meeting held today in the Minister's Secretariat North Block office chamber.
Education (S) Link Commissioner P Vaiphei, Imphal West DC, Imphal West SP, Education (S) Joint Secretary Md Abdus Salam, Education (S) Director N Praveen and Education (S) Deputy Secretary H Mathang were present at the meeting presided by M Okendro.
As tabled at the meeting, all Catholic schools were asked by KCP-MC to reserve 15 per cent of their total seats for free education of poor students.
As Catholic schools could not fulfil the demand, the UG group asked all the Catholic schools to close down.
After listening to their account, M Okendro asked the Catholic Educational Society whether they would shut schools if any one ask them to do so through the media.
He then asked the society what kind of assistance they would like from the State Government.
Assuring all possible assistance from the Government, Okendro acknowledged the contribution of Catholic schools in the State's education sector.
Government officials who were present at the meeting sought detailed reports about the threats made by the particular UG and how they were conveyed.
Representatives of Catholic Educational Society clarified that they were not served any written missive directly.
The threats came through the society's PRO, van drivers and media.
The schools have been shut most reluctantly for fear of reprisal on students and/or van drivers, they added.
At the end of the meeting, a committee headed by the Imphal West DC as chairman was constituted in order to take up all necessary measures and resolve the imbroglio.
Imphal West SP AK Jhaljit and BOSEM Secretary Ch Sarat are members of the committee while Education (S) Director N Praveen is the Member Secretary.
After obtaining comments and suggestions from a cross section of the society, the committee would submit a report by April 15.The committee would take a concrete decision based on the committee's report so that all the schools presently closed can re-open.
In order to avoid such unwanted situation from the next academic year onward, a well defined admission policy which would be applicable to both Government and private schools would be put in place, Okendro stated.