Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal on a day-long tour of the state, visited two primary and secondary schools in Panchkula district and interacted with students and teachers about the state of education.
On a visit to Haryana to have a first-hand account of the government schools functioning in rural areas, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal today doubled up as teacher, posing questions and even correcting some replies of the students.
Sibal, on a day-long tour of the state, visited two primary and secondary schools in Panchkula district and interacted with students and teachers about the state of education and the facilities available.
No Internet connectivity, lack of adequate computers, improper toilets, non-availability of courses were some of the complaints students made to Sibal, who gave a patient hearing to them.
Visiting the Elementary School in Manakiya, Sibal went around the classrooms and got to know from the students what they were learning during the class hours. Sibal also asked some of the students to read out passages from their text books and did not fail to correct them when they went wrong. "Which subject do you people like the most?" was the question Sibal asked every student when he interacted with them.
The HRD Minister was forced to ask "Don’t you people like English or Science or Mathematics?", when almost everyone said they liked either Hindi or Punjabi. When a student read a passage on Mahatma Gandhi, Sibal went to him and wanted to know what the apostle of peace did in South Africa for more than five years.
When the student took some time to explain, Sibal told him about some incidents
that took place in South Africa.
During an interaction with students of the secondary school in Ramgath in the district, Sibal went around the campus and expressed displeasure over the maintanence of toilets and asked the authorities to take immediate action, but was happy with the overall scenario.
"By and large I am happy with the standard of education and infrastructural facilities at the rural schools I visited. There should be a choice for the students and the government should provide all the subjects to them", he said regarding the availability of subjects in government schools.
The minister also appreciated when students spoke in English and wanted to know from them whether they had any problem in learning English.
"Students should develop more interest in learning English, Science and Mathematics. I am happy that children learn their mother tongue and Hindi with great interest. We will promote all the languages," he said.
Replying to a student who said the toilet facilities were improper, Sibal said the Centre will provide all support to the Haryana Government in upgrading the infrastructure in all the educational institutions.
While interacting with teachers, Sibal wanted to know from them the problems they face in the school and the drop-out rates in their schools. "The drop-out rates are a concern for us. The school authorities told me this is because of migrant labourers. This has been taken care of through the Right to Eductaion Act," Sibal said.
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