Shimla, Aug 8 Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday handed over appointment letters to 312 drawing teachers at a ceremony here.
On the occasion, he also gave a send-off to five students from government schools who were embarking on an educational tour to Japan.
The students would visit various academic institutions and historical sites across Japan.
During the event, the Chief Minister launched several educational initiatives, including the student-centric news platform edsk Express, baseline school ranking accreditation report, geo-tagged and geo-fenced smart 'Upsthiti' (attendance monitoring system) and the Vidya Samiksha Kendra.
Congratulating the newly appointed teachers, the Chief Minister highlighted the significant progress that the state has made in education quality over the past two and a half years.
He said, "When the present Congress government came to power, the state ranked 21st nationally in terms of quality education. Today, we have moved up to the fifth position."
He said that during the survey, it was also found that Himachal Pradesh is at number two in Class 3, fifth in Class VI and fourth in Class IX in providing quality education to the students.
The Chief Minister said the teachers have made immense contributions in elevating the state's educational standing and emphasised the need to prepare for future challenges collaboratively.
He said the government was seriously considering not retiring teachers in the middle of an academic session to avoid disruption in students' learning.
CM Sukhu said his government was committed to bringing reforms in the education sector, with several initiatives already underway.
"The previous government opened various schools for political gains, but our focus was to ensure that no child was deprived of education and that they receive quality instruction," he said.
The government has already appointed 5,100 trained graduate teachers (TGTs) in medical, non-medical and arts streams.
A rationalisation drive has also been initiated in schools where student-teacher ratios were imbalanced.
The government was also establishing Rajiv Gandhi Day-Boarding Schools equipped with all subject-specialist teachers, for which recruitments would begin soon, he added.
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