A joint meeting with representatives of private and government educational institutions of central, state and state board was held at the conference hall of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Babupara in Manipur capital Imphal on Monday, according to reports.
Manipur education minister Dr Thokchom Radheshyam chaired the meeting.
Commissioner Education (S) T Ranjit Singh, Director Education (S) Th Kirankumar, officials concerned and representatives of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Manipur; Kendriya Vidyalaya, Manipur, Sainik School, Imphal; Manipur Public School, Koirengei; Catholic Schools, All Manipur Government Aided School Employees Coordinating Committee, All Manipur Recognised Private Schools Welfare Association and CBSE affiliated Schools, in Manipur were also present during the meeting.
Addressing the representatives, Dr Radheshyam expressed that the meeting was held to deliberate and discuss the impact of COVID-19 in society, especially in the education sector.
Stating that the Education department has taken up measures to make up for the loss of academic session, he sought suggestions and comments from the representatives for an effective system to cover maximum students through online classes in the State and also to provide materials from the online classes through offline facilities to the students.
During the meeting, issues regarding school fees, salary of the teaching and administrative staff of private schools were discussed, according sources from DIPR Manipur.
The next round of meeting will be held soon to bring about an amicable solution which will benefit all the stakeholders.
On the other hand, a participant who represents an association of the schools in Manipur proposed for a modality to conduct classes by respective schools during the lockdown besides drawing the attention of the government to find a solution to address the grievances of students, guardians, teachers, school staff and all stakeholders.
It may mentioned that the educational institutions in the State has been closed since mid March to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
To overcome the challenges, the Education department has been trying its best to introduce the various modalities for the students’ community.
After comic textbooks for primary classes were released, the Education department had also launched the electronic format of comic textbooks for Classes III, IV and V in April.