AIZAWL: As many as 8119 children belonging to Myanmar and Bangladesh refugees as well as internally displaced people from strife-torn Manipur were enrolled in schools.
Mizoram school education minister Lalchhandama Ralte said that 6366 students from Myanmar, 250 from Bangladesh and 1503 displaced children from Manipur are being imparted education in Mizoram.
He said that the students were enrolled in schools as per the government notification and were provided free school uniforms, text books as well as mid-day meals just like their local counterparts.
He said that the Mizoram government is committed to provide education to refugee children from Myanmar and Bangladesh as well as children of internally displaced people from Manipur.
“The Mizoram government is a nationalist government that views Zo tribes from all parts of the world as one. We focus on the unification of the Zo people, and this principle is also reflected in our education sector. Our government not only provides shelter but also education to those in need,” Ralte said.
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He said that 44 refugee children had registered for class-10 board examination in 2022 and 31 of them appeared in the examination.
Of the 31 students, who appeared, 28 have successfully cleared the board examination registering a pass percentage of 90.32, he said.
The Mizoram minister said that enrollment in government schools have gone up steadily during the last four years, which is a positive indication that education in government schools have witnessed a significant improvement.
The total enrollment of students in the 2019-20 academic session was 1,15,005, which was increased to 1,19,133 in 2020-21 and there was a further rise to 1,28,927 in 2021-22 academic year, he said.
He added that efforts are on to prioritise the inclusion of Mizo language learning in the curriculum.