The Education Minister, Punjab, Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema today chaired 4th meeting of sub-committee of Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) at Bhubaneswar. In the meeting, all the attending states made the presentations giving details about infrastructural conditions at government schools besides offering solutions to bridge the gaps.The meeting was attended by Education Minister Karnataka Mr. K. Ratnakar, Education Minister Rajasthan Prof. Vasudev Devnani, Vice Chancellor of National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NEUPA) Mr. T.B.J. Tilak, Mrs. Ranjana Arora from NCERT, Deepak Rajnan of Premji Foundation, D.P.I. (Secondary Education) Punjab Mr. Balbir Singh Dhol, Principal Secretaries and other senior officers from Education Departments of Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and all North East States. In the meeting stress was laid upon teachers training programme, re-commencing of 5th and 8th class board exam and fast track the recruitment process to fill vacancies so that the educational standards do not suffer and quality education is ensured. All the members voiced their support for the formulation of an effective policy and recruitment calendar so as to fill the vacant posts of teachers besides ensuring that the recruitment is carried out at the right time.
All the participant states evolved a consensus about initiation of pre-primary classes in government schools as a way to improve educational standard from the formative primary level itself. The committee also discussed pre-service and in service training manual of teacher training module. The members also demanded that a department of teachers training should be established in all the Universities of the country and also that in each state, a national level state of the art teacher training institute should also be formed. The members also stressed the importance of filling posts of English and Computer teachers. Next meeting of CABE sub-committee would be held on June 25, 2016 at New Delhi.It is pertinent to mention that the committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema has been formed by Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) for the purpose of betterment of educational standards in government schools throughout the country. The committee is slated to submit its report within one year regarding steps taken and plans formulated to improve standard of education in the country.