'Shiksha Sangam 2025' programme was organized in Ranchi today under the joint aegis of Jharkhand Education Project Council and CInI (Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives). Minister of School Education and Literacy Ramdas Soren, Jharkhand Education Project Director Shashi Ranjan, State Program Officer Mamura Khan and Divya Jyoti from CInI, Ganesh Neelam, Education Head of Tata Trust Amrita Patwardhan, CInI Jharkhand Team Leader Shirshendu Paul and more than 250 SMC members from various districts of the state participated in this program.
Addressing the program, Departmental Minister Ramdas Soren said that for improvement in education, cooperation of both the state and central government is required. Without mutual cooperation of both, golden development of the state cannot be imagined. In today's time, to bring equality in education and its development, there is a need for a school management committee in all schools. Without a management committee, the school system cannot be improved. For the betterment of education in remote areas, the government, panchayat representatives, school management committee and common people also have equal role. Management committee monitors the schools from time to time. If children between 5 and 18 years of age are not going to school in villages, then the school management committee finds out the reasons behind it and connects those children to school.
Soren, while highlighting the importance of education, said that education forms the foundation of human life. If the foundation is strong, only then the biggest building can be constructed on it. That is why connecting children between 5 and 18 years of age to school should not only be the responsibility of the school management committee but also the collective responsibility of every citizen of the society.
On this occasion, JEPC Director Shashi Ranjan said that our goal is to ensure 100% enrollment and zero dropout of children in the state. The department is continuously working with all its stakeholders to strengthen schools through community cooperation. He further said that SMC plays a big role in creating an educational environment in schools. It is not possible to monitor the welfare schemes being run by the government in the 36 thousand government schools of the state only from the department level. In such a situation, it is the important responsibility of the TRI members and SMC to inspect the schools from time to time. In schools where SMC is present, the educational environment is better. But where the schools are not getting full support of SMC, there is a lot of deficiency in the attendance of children and the use of resources.
Ranjan said that in Jharkhand, government schools are mostly in rural areas. In such a situation, the children who come to school come from a very challenging environment. In rural areas, parents are not able to pay much attention to the education of children. In such a situation, the contribution of SMC and PTM becomes important.
Ranjan further said that along with bookish knowledge, government teachers of the state are being given extensive training to provide project based learning, skill training and technical knowledge to the children. The contribution of the school management committee becomes important for ensuring that children get a better educational environment in school, teachers come to school on time, and continuous monitoring of other facilities including mid-day meal. The representatives of Panchayati Raj are also doing commendable work in schools. School Ruar program is being run with the aim of ensuring enrollment of dropout children. The cooperation of SMC members is also noteworthy in this program.
The keynote speaker Dr. Manisha Priyam (Professor, NIEPA) said that children are no longer studying from paper pulp, but are also learning responsibly. On this occasion, SMC and PRI members like Dharmendra Kumar from Latehar, Sunita Saha from Giridih and Anima from Khunti shared their success stories. They were also honoured by the chief guest.