Shillong, Oct 13: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today inducted the first cohort of Chief Minister’s Leadership in Education and Development (CMLEAD) Fellowship at his residence, along with Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui.
The fellowship is a state-led initiative of the state government that embeds skilled young professionals within the state’s education system to accelerate reform, one district at a time.
Twelve fellows will be placed across all 12 districts to work with Samagra Shiksha, the Directorate of Educational Research and Training (DERT) and district education offices to accelerate reforms and improve learning outcomes.
The Chief Minister said governance cannot be only political or bureaucratic. “Participation from community, from society is essential,” he said.
“Making a new building is not making education better. It is infrastructure. Education becomes better when that building helps a child and quality goes up,” Sangma said, adding fellows will bridge the gap between field reality and officialdom.
He urged the Education Department to give fellows specific tasks, targets and reporting indicators so they are not left “moving around with a laptop”. He suggested each fellow visit at least one school a week and report on buildings, toilets, furniture and learning quality.
He also asked fellows to mobilise communities — headmen, pastors, students, NGOs — to volunteer, teach, or adopt schools where gaps exist.
“Don’t look at problems as a challenge, look at it as an opportunity to change it,” he told the fellows, inviting them to suggest policy reforms.
