Taking strong exception to the practice of teachers being ‘attached’ to legislators, the minister for soil & water conservation and geology & mining, V Kashiho Sangtam, Saturday cautioned that he would not hesitate to take action against any such teachers within Kiphire district.
Speaking at inaugural programme of sub-divisional education office at Seyochung town, the minister said that the job of teachers was to teach students and not MLAs.
Maintaining that quality of education was deteriorating in the state, Kashiho called for doing away with the culture of teacher attachment. He said civilization and education were inextricably linked, hence quality education was the need of the hour.
Lamenting the lack of development at Seyochung ADC HQ, he said that there were three premises upon which development rested: Health, Education and Roads. He said, if those were streamlined the potential of human resources could be tapped to the maximum.
School education deputy director, R. Ekonthung Lotha, said the purpose of expansion of office was to facilitate quality education. The programme was chaired by ADC Seyochung, and vote of thanks was proposed by DAO Kiphire, R. Santsu Kithan.
Earlier in the day, Kashiho also inaugurated the sub-divisional agriculture office at Seyochung town.
Observing that majority of farmers was into jhum cultivation, Kashiho suggested educating farmers by the department on scientific technical methods so large scale destruction of forests could be avoided. He also added that farmers could also get a better yield for their efforts.
If farmers adopted those techniques, he said the rich forest canopy could be preserved, contributing towards checking climate change.
Further, the minister urged the people to extend their full support and co-operation so the department could work for the welfare of the people.
Additional director of agriculture, N Henry Zeliang, gave a brief departmental report and said that the office was a long felt need of the department. He said that with the opening of the Agri office, farmers could avail the latest technologies of farming and get the department’s assistance.