Himachal govt to partner with UNESCO to reform education system: Education Minister Rohit Thakur

Shimla, Feb 21 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government will collaborate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to strengthen quality, equitable, and inclusive education for every child in the state, Education Minister Rohit Thakur said on Friday.

Thakur, who chaired a meeting with a UNESCO delegation, said that the state government would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UNESCO, exploring potential areas of collaboration to further reform the education system, including at the higher education level, a statement issued here said.

The Minister mentioned that education has always been a top priority for the state. The literacy rate in Himachal Pradesh stands at more than 83 per cent, compared to just 7 per cent when the state achieved statehood in 1971, he said.

However, the quality of education has declined to some extent in recent years. Still, the current state government has taken major reformative measures to improve education quality, which are beginning to show encouraging results, he said. He added that 20 per cent of the total budget is allocated to the education sector.

"The vision of the state government is to provide quality education to children studying in government schools in rural areas. To achieve this, the government is opening Rajiv Gandhi Day-Boarding Schools in every Assembly constituency in a phased manner, where all modern facilities will be available under one roof," he said.

The Minister also stated that the state has the highest learning levels and expressed hope that the long-term partnership with UNESCO would further strengthen these efforts.

Secretary of Education Rakesh Kanwar emphasised that instead of training individual teachers from different educational institutions, the entire teaching staff and administration of a particular institute should be trained together to work as a team and achieve better results.

Programme Specialist and Chief of Education, Joyce Poan, said that UNESCO is a leader in providing training in the education sector and is looking forward to partnering with the state government for a five-year period to train teachers in phases.

She added that, in addition to sharing experiences, exchange programmes would be undertaken up to the Block level to improve education quality.

Special Project Director of Samagra Shiksha, Rajesh Sharma, said that with UNESCO’s assistance, the state aims to transform schools into hubs of innovation, sustainability, and excellence. PTI BPL ARD ARD

Source: PTI