Mizoram Education System Reforms on Anvil

Aizawl, Aug 1 : Mizoram, the second highest literate state in India, is all set to give a paradigm shift in its education system.

The Mizoram Education Reforms Commission set up by the Congress administration last year submitted its report to the chief minister at a special function here today.

Lauding the efforts of the Commission in submitting a comprehensive report within eleven months, Lal Thanhawla said, ''The report, which is the first of its kind in the country will be a bench mark as no other state in India has ventured to set up an education reforms commission. Hence, copies of the report would be presented to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.''

The eleven-member Education Reforms Commission was headed by former director of NCERT Profesor A K Sharma was set up by the state government on June 9, 2009 with eminent national and state educationists as members to recommend ways and means to raise standards of education and improve its quality covering all sectors of education right from the pre-school level to higher and professional education.

The chief minister today suggested that the commission be called Sharma Commission after its chairman.

''I wholeheartedly believe that the recommendations once implemented would go a long way in reforming the system of education in the state from elementary to the university level,'' he said.
Reiterating the government commitment to education reforms in the state, the chief minister said the work of the commission if properly administered and strictly followed can transform the educational scenario of Mizoram for the better.

He added that education is the best investment for the state and its society within and that no price is too heavy to pay for a child's education.

The commission report, which ran into 15 chapters, brought the importance of pre-school education to the centre stage of the entire spectrum of school education.

It recommends that pre-school education of two-year duration is included as an integral part of formal education before the child enters class one.

The chairman of the Commission, Professor A K Sharma highlighted that a wide spectrum of issues such as quality of education in relation to academic achievement of students and performance level of schools, drastic reduction of school drop out, development of skills for wage and self-employment through vocationalisation of education, rejuvenating curriculum reform process, language development, education in universal human values, overhauling the system of governance have been reflected in the Report of the Commission.