Captain Williamson Sangma Technical University (CWSTU), the first state varsity in Meghalaya, will have its first intake of students in 2024, Education Minister Rakkam Sangma informed today.
Sangma informed this after meeting with a delegation of the Hynniewtrep Youths Council (HYC), which visited him to discuss a range of education-related issues.
However, the minister had no good news to share on the demand for a separate state university based in Shillong; CWSTU will be a Tura-centred institution, though the government does at least hope to establish a branch campus here.
Last week, the Chief Minister ruled out, for now, a second state university in Shillong, in part due to financial constraints.
Meanwhile, the Education Minister informed that the process of recruitment for a Vice-Chancellor for CWSTU and other posts has begun.
It was in December last year that the cabinet decided that the CWSTU will be Meghalaya’s first state university. The move would expand higher education and also give local colleges the option of shifting their affiliation away from the central North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU). That would allow them to bypass the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
The HYC also raised the issue of implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the problems faced by Meghalaya students in getting the opportunity to pursue their higher studies in NEHU due to the limited number of seats and with CUET being necessary for admission.
The pressure group also called for the government to regulate fees in government-aided and independent educational institutions so that education does not go beyond the reach of the lower strata of society.
Reacting to this demand, Sangma said that the government is seeking a report from institutions after which it will decide on the matter.
On the demand to establish CUET centres in the state, he said that by next year Meghalaya will have three such centres in NEHU Shillong, NEHU Tura and Jowai. This year, students faced grave difficulty in sitting for the CUET as they were assigned centres outside Meghalaya.
Meanwhile, the HYC also urged the government to provide greater financial assistance to colleges in order for them to be able to implement the NEP. It also called for schools to introduce training in aptitude and logical reasoning, which, it said, will help them prepare for competitive exams.
The HYC also sought for the state government to find places in educational institutes for the 200 Meghalaya students who were studying in Manipur before that state was rocked by ongoing ethnic violence.
