IMPHAL, Aug 28: The 32nd State Level Students Science Seminar, 2010 on the topic “India and World Science: Are we there?” was held at the Gandhi Memorial Hall in Imphal today. The seminar was organized by the Department of Education (S), Government of Manipur.
Speaking on the occasion chief guest L Jayantakumar said that it was very necessary for the students today to know every aspect of science. A united stand was expected of the guardians, teachers and parents in today’s competitive world, he said while adding that the Right to Education Bill had been passed in the Parliament in August 2009 and it was required that the teachers are trained within five years to give quality education. However, in Manipur the training to the teachers was to take around 10 years and at the moment it is not possible to train the teachers within five years, he mentioned.
The minister also revealed that Tele-education would be launched for the first time in Manipur on August 30 at the TG Higher Secondary School. He assured that education was a common property for all the citizens of the state and it was not the privilege of only certain individuals.
The government schools in the state were way behind in their education and this was known to the government and it needs the cooperation of the teachers, students and everyone else interested to bring the educational standards up to the required level, he said. Lack of education had instilled a fear and restlessness in the minds of the people of the state and the violence perpetrated by the armed groups including the police was only due to the lack of education in the state, he averred while also observing that it was time to educate the students properly with the joint effort of all concerned.
The keynote address of the evening session was given by L Viramani Singh, the Science Promotion Officer of the Directorate of Education (S) in which the speaker stated that the seminar was being held every year since 1978 with 26 students from all the districts participating in the seminar. However, this year only 20 had taken part, he added.
The seminar was held in two sessions with the seminar being held in the morning session and the prize distribution being held in the afternoon session. Prof Ak Manihar Singh of the Department of Chemistry, Manipur University presided over the first session in which the seminar was held. Minister of Education (S) L Jayentakumar Singh was the chief guest in the evening session, while Prof Ak Manihar Singh was the guest of honor and Director of Education (S) T Ranjit Singh was the president of the evening session.
In the meantime, a student of the Sainik School Imphal named Th Parishek Singh was chosen today to represent the state in the National Students Science Seminar to be held at Bangalore on October 8. Parishek took the first position in the seminar today and received a cash prize of Rs. 7000 for his showing. Fifteen students got the consolation prize of Rs. 1000 each while four merit prizes worth Rs. 2000 each went to four other students.