The pass percentage of students from Meghalaya’s Garo hills region has been a cause of concern for several years now, though little has been done to help pupils secure better marks.
South West Garo Hills deputy commissioner Ram Kumar S. has now organised coaching classes for students of class X. The classes, compulsory for all students, are held every Saturday.
Kumar said there are 23 coaching centres across the district where the best teachers take classes. Science, mathematics and English have been identified as the core areas, he added.
Over 2,500 students are being trained in these 23 coaching centres, Kumar added.
Of the 50,050 students, who appeared in this year’s Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination, 27,887 cleared the test. The pass percentage of 55.72 was slightly lower than last year’s 56.76 per cent.
But the pass percentage of all the five districts in the Garo hills was lower than the state average. East Garo Hills, West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills recorded a pass percentage of 40.34, 38.17 and 39.07 respectively. In South West Garo Hills and North Garo Hills, the pass percentages were 25.92 and 36.32 respectively.
In the entire Garo hills, of 23,319 students, only 8,364 passed the exam.
The deputy commissioner also directed education officials to inspect schools regularly and enquire about completion of syllabus and method of preparation of students appearing for examinations among others.
Kumar said those who fail to clear the exam in the first attempt do not take the re-test and some of them also get involved in antisocial activities.
“Such students should be given proper guidance,” he added.
Meghalaya commissioner and secretary P. Sampath Kumar, who chaired a meeting of all deputy commissioners of the Garo hills region on Tuesday, said the districts need to focus on the education sector and try to increase the pass percentage.
He also suggested that every district should organise coaching classes for class X students and offer motivational training to teachers on a regular basis.
He also insisted on pedagogy evaluation through block resource persons of the district.
