The Meghalaya Youth Engagement and Training Programmes were launched on March 14 across districts, commencing with the Meghalaya@50 Youth Survey, which aims to capture the voice of the youth and gather insights needed by the state to develop better youth development strategies that take inspiration from the sentiments and aspirations of the youth.
The programme is an initiative of the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs supported by the Education Department’s Directorate of School Education and Literacy (DSEL). This exercise is the state’s largest ever on ground youth engagement programme, a press release said today, marking Meghalaya’s 50th year of statehood and is the first of its kind in the North East.
Aspire Meghalaya 2.0 is a flagship initiative under the Meghalaya Youth Engagement and Training Programmes, aimed at building aspirations, career readiness and life preparedness in young people. To mark the beginning of its first phase, orientation programmes were held simultaneously across districts that saw the participation of over 290 campuses, represented by over 550 teachers, in order to help them drive the youth survey across 12 districts for a projected respondent base of 50,000 adolescents.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma launched Aspire Meghalaya 2.0, along with a series of interventions for citizens across the state, at an event on March 8 in Shillong. Speaking on the occasion, the CM stressed on his belief that every member of society has a role to play in contributing towards the state’s ‘10 in 10’ vision, which is to become one of the nation’s top 10 states in 10 years.
“Creating a better and happier society, a developed nation and an equal state through education, health and other reforms requires that all stakeholders work together,” he said.
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Banteidor Lyngdoh, also expressed his optimism in the programme’s vision, saying, “This is a crucial step taken by the department to ensure that the vision of the Youth Policy is fulfilled through youth engagement programmes that are based on the aspirations of the youths of our state”.
The youth survey will be followed by two critical phases of Aspire Meghalaya – soft skills and life preparedness training for 10,000 youths across 50-plus campuses, and career exploration and talent discovery platforms that will recognise 200-plus ‘State Stars’ and ‘Top 10 Talents’ of the state.
