AIZAWL:
Rajya Sabha member from Mizoram K Vanlalvena, on February 4, raised the issue of Hindi learning in the Northeast and urged the Centre to appoint Samagra Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) teachers in primary schools across the state to teach the language.
During Zero Hour debate of the ongoing Budget Session, Vanlalvena stated that more Hindi teachers are required at primary level to fill the tutor-pupil gap in Mizoram as citizens still lacks proficiency in the language.
He said that in addition to the existing 384 Hindi teachers in high schools and 724 in middle schools in Mizoram, as many as 855 posts of Hindi teachers have been sanctioned under SSA, however, the vacancies are yet to be filled.
Since the SSA is funded by the Centre and state government in the ratio of 90:10, he asked the Centre not to alter the arrangement keeping in mind the demography of a small state like Mizoram.
The MP also urged the Centre to revise the criteria for appointment of teachers under SSA in the state and make it at par with its counterparts in other states as they are the most important components for achieving desired quality education in the country.
Vanlalvena, while pointing Hindi to be an important language for national integration, asserted that providing more Hindi teachers to the Northeast is no less important than deploying a battalion of army.
Vanlalvena urged the central government to take concrete measures to raise the status of Hindi teachers in various schools across the region.