Special scholarship to make science attractive

**Chief minister Mukul Sangma lights a lamp during the inauguration of the international seminar on attracting best talent in basic science held in Shillong College on Wednesday.**

SHILLONG, JULY 24: In order to make science studies attractive, Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma said that the Meghalaya government will soon provide “special scholarship” to students pursuing education in the science stream.

Sangma said on Wednesday, “The government has decided to award scholarship to all students
pursuing higher studies in sciences apart from the normal scholarship issued to them. In this way we can make the subject attractive and encouraging the students to take up science.”.

Addressing an International Seminar on –‘Attracting Best Talents in Basic Sciences’ organized by the Shillong College as part of its golden jubilee celebrations on science teaching, Sangma said the scholarship is aimed to help bright students who comes from rural areas.

Admitting that the education sector in the state still requires attention of the government, Sangma revealed that Rs 600 crore project exclusively for education has been approved by the union government and is expected to roll by the end of this year. He said, “This project aims at upscaling our educational infrastructures as well as the capacity of our teaching community in the state.”

According to Sangma, the project has been conceptualized as the state government felt that it has not been able to provide enough for the education sector. He said, “Under the programme, teacher training will be included which will help teachers to be able to identify the talents of the students (whether science, arts, commerce etc) and motivate them towards achieving their goals in life.”

Lamenting that the state’s remotest districts of South and West Garo Hills fared badly in the recent Class X exams with pass percentage below 25 per cent, Sangma rued, “This is due to the lack of facilities in such areas which needs to be addressed.”

Sangma also added that the scheme is also partially aimed at improving the education in those districts which fared badly in the state’s board exams.” He said that the government is making investments to ensure that more residential schools are establish in the rural areas to create an enabling environment for students.- By Our Reporter