Meritorious students to be sent on Educational Tours: Dr Dhan Singh Rawat

my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 18 Oct: Meritorious students of Uttarakhand will soon be sent on inter-state educational tours. Departmental officials have been directed to prepare a detailed plan for the tours. Officials have also been instructed to ensure that funds for free school uniforms, bags, shoes and bicycles are transferred to students’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) at the earliest. In addition, directions have been issued to place key proposals, including the restructuring of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), before the upcoming Cabinet meeting.
State School Education Minister Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat chaired a review meeting of the department in the conference hall of the Vidya Samiksha Kendra at the Directorate of Education on Saturday in this regard.
During the meeting, Dr. Rawat directed departmental officials to send meritorious students on inter-state educational tours in November. He also instructed the Directorate to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate with the respective districts and ensure that the tours are organised in accordance with the planned schedule.
Dr. Rawat said that during the inter-state educational tours, students would visit scientific research centres, space research centres, sports training institutes, technology institutes, cultural and heritage sites, as well as music and art academies.
Within Uttarakhand, students would also be taken on educational visits to institutions and destinations such as IIT Roorkee, NIT, IIM Kashipur, the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, the IAS Training Academy in Mussoorie, and Jim Corbett National Park.
At the meeting, the Education Minister directed officials to transfer funds for free school uniforms, bags, shoes and bicycles to students’ bank accounts through DBT within one month. He also instructed them to expedite the inauguration of projects developed under the PM SHRI and Samagra Shiksha schemes, including ICT-enabled and smart classrooms, sports complexes and hostels.
Furthermore, Dr. Rawat directed officials to bring proposals before the upcoming Cabinet meeting for the restructuring of SCERT and DIETs and for increasing the financial assistance provided to students for free tablets, school uniforms, bags, shoes and bicycles.
During the review meeting, the Minister also instructed officials to expedite the process of filling vacant academic and non-teaching posts in the primary and secondary education departments, fill vacant Class IV posts, and take necessary steps regarding the adjustment and provincialisation of teachers in non-government schools. He also called for organising a special Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for in-service teachers and ensuring wider publicity of the department’s achievements.
Secretary, School Education, Jyoti Yadav; Director, SCERT, Vandana Gabryal; Director, Secondary Education, Vinod Kumar Simalti; Director, Primary Education, K.S. Rawat; Deputy Director J.P. Kala; Chief Education Officer, Dehradun, Govind Ram Jaiswal; Financial Controller Virendra Kumar; and other departmental officials attended the meeting. Chief Education Officers from other districts participated virtually.