Gangtok Schools reopens Today after Earthquake and Puja Holidays

Gangtok, Oct. 10: Parts of North Sikkim still continue to be inaccessible though the administration and schools, crippled since the September 18 earthquake, are expected to function normally from tomorrow. Temporary arrangements have been made so that 779 government schools with their 1.18 lakh students can start functioning. “Classes will start from tomorrow. Whatever temporary arrangements were to be done, has been done,” said HRD secretary C.S. Rao over the phone from Ravangla in South Sikkim. Construction of temporary structures on campuses, hiring buildings near schools for classes and introducing shifts in schools with low enrolments are some of the options that have been worked out. Sikkim government spokesperson K.S. Topgay said aerial sorties to evacuate people stranded in North Sikkim and air-dropping of relief continued during the Puja break by the army choppers and the civilian Pawan Hans helicopters. Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung still remain cut off from Mangan because of landslides along the North Sikkim highway. Mangan is the administrative headquarters of the North district, 30km from Chungthang. Apart from multiple landslides, a 400 metre stretch of the highway had been washed away between Toong and Theeng near Chungthang. “We have managed to cut inside the rocky hillside to create a new road up to 350 metres. Now only 50 metres is left to be created,” said AK Das, the joint director of the Border Roads Organisation’s Project Swastik. “The spot is on a steep incline. Even the rock of the hillside is hard to break,” said Das. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who visited Sikkim on September 29 had directed the BRO to restore the North Sikkim highway to Chungthang by October 15. The highway is important as it is the sole link to the army and ITBP bases on the China border. “All our resources and manpower have been concentrated at this point and the BRO is committed to open the road as soon as possible,” said Das. Nearly Rs 16,000 crore has been released by the state government as ex-gratia for the 21,659 pucca and kutcha houses damaged in East Sikkim. This amount is in addition to the Rs 1.2 crore distributed earlier. The ex-gratia ranges from Rs 3,000 to Rs 50,000, depending on the intensity of the damage and the type of house. “We appeal to those, whose damaged houses have not be been recorded so far, to come to us by October 15. Our officials will survey these houses and we will release ex-gratia for the genuine claims. We don't want to leave out any genuine cases,” said district collector D. Anandan. Around 100 claims from owners of damaged houses were received at the district control room during the Puja break. The claims should be reported to the administrative centre in Sichey, Gangtok, where the district authorities will resume work from tomorrow. Anandan has been camping at the district control room at MG Marg since the earthquake. “We will be shifting to the district administrative centre from Monday and resume our normal functions along with relief work related with the earthquake,” said the district collector. According to officials of North Sikkim, 3,361 houses have suffered major and minor damage in the Mangan subdivision including Dzongu. Assessment of the damage is in progress at Lachung, Lachen and Chungthang.

Students in Sikkim Hostels anxious and worried lot

GANGTOK, 21 Sept: As panic spread across the state, anxiety rose high among both, parents and college and school students residing in hostels here. Disrupted phone connectivity making it impossible to communicate and get information of the conditions on either side.
With most buildings damaged, a number of such hostels across the state have been evacuated. The Scheduled Caste Girls’ Hostel of Sikkim Government College, situated at Gairigaon, Tadong has developed numerous cracks mostly on the second and third floor of the building. The hostel has 25 residents, all of whom left the hostel yesterday to stay with their local guardians.

Sikkim University’s Cauveri Girls’ hostel at Tadong, also bears a number of cracks on the lower floors which has scared the students into spending the nights at the mess hall, TV room and study room located on the floor at the road level.
A day after the earthquake hit the state, some students have shifted back to their rooms while others are still too scared to return.
“We are still scared and not ready to go back to our rooms,” said Anupriya, a 1st year Psychology student at SU, preferring to sit outside, in the open, in front of the hostel along with other girls.
The hostel has 91 residents, with quite a sizeable number of them from outside the state. Students from Bhutan, Nagaland, Assam, West Bengal also reside at the hostel. Most students managed to get in touch with their parents, only a day after the earthquake when telecom connectivity resumed.
The Sikkim University boys’ hostel located near Smile Land, Marchak, which houses around 60 students, has also suffered some severe damages.
Shakti Dutraj, a student at the university suffered a head injury while he was trying to escape as bricks started falling off the walls. Some students were at the Internet Cafe located on the top floor where two walls collapsed injuring another student. Around, four students of the hostel were injured in the earthquake.
Debrajhya Mukerjee, a hosteller, informed that after the quake, the boys left the hostel and took shelter at the Sikkim Science Centre at Marchak for the night. The next day, they came to the girls hostel at Tadong from where they have been shifted to a building near the girls’ hostel from today.
Sikkim University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mahendra P Lama, met the students in this evening to reassure the students and said that they will be shifted back to the hostel when the University feels it is safe to do so.
The mid-term examinations scheduled to begin from 26 Sept will take place as planned, he informed
Meanwhile in West Sikkim, the ground floor of Soreng Secondary School’s girls’ hostel has been completely damaged and all 40 girl students have been evacuated and shifted to a temporary tin shed at the school’s premises.
The hostel used to provide free accommodation for these girls mostly from remote villages who now cannot return to their homes as walking to school everyday is not possible.
Here in the capital’s Tashi Namgyal Academy, it was prep time for the hostellers when the quake hit. Girl students were in the classrooms at one of the school buildings when they felt the tremors. According to the hostel matron, some of the seniors, having seen videos of the earthquake in Japan, instructed the juniors to hide under the tables. A make-shift shelter at the basketball court is where they spent the night.
“Although I couldn’t get in touch with my family in Dzongu immediately, my uncle here called to see if I was fine and also informed me that my family was fine,” said girls hostel captain, Marmit Lepcha.
A man from Lachen visited the school to enquire about students from the village since there was no communication, informed the hostel matron.
The hostel at Taktse International School here managed to post facebook updates on the night of the earthquake itself reassuring anxious parents and guardians that wards at the hostel were safe and well attended to. Most schools could not do so and the lack of communication was worrying for all concerned.
It has been a nerve-wracking experience for students coming from remote parts of the state and outside the state as most of them could get in touch with their families only a day after the 6.8 magnitude quake hit the state. As damages are being assessed, the question that is emerging is till when will such temporary arrangements hold fort and a permanent solution found.

(TSHERING EDEN for Now Daily)

Denmark questions legitimacy of Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) courses

 One of India's best-known private universities, Sikkim Manipal University (SMU), faces international scrutiny over the legitimacy of its distance education courses, after Denmark diplomatically raised questions about the recognition of the university courses.
The human resource development (HRD) ministry has responded to the detailed questions from the Royal Danish embassy in New Delhi, stating that SMU does not have key approvals it requires to offer some popular distance education courses.

Some of SMU's distance education programmes do not have the approval of a joint committee of the University Grants Commission (UGC), All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the Distance Education Council (DEC).
Sources privy to the development have told HT that the government has informed Denmark that this approval is required for each course an institute wants to offer through the distance education mode.

The HRD ministry's response effectively argues that these courses do not have the required recognition.

But officials of the "one of the country's largest and most popular distance education varsities" insisted that the university's distance education courses were legitimate because the DEC has recognized the university.

"While I do not want to comment on this specific case since neither Denmark nor the Government of India has communicated with us, I wish to state that SMU has the DEC's recognition, which is in the public domain," SMU academic director V Sivaramakrishnan told HT.

But mere DEC approval is not adequate, HRD ministry officials said.

"The DEC merely approves an institution as capable of running distance education programmes. But the joint committee of the UGC, AICTE and DEC must meet and approve specific courses for these to be offered," an official said.

The HRD ministry, sources said, is keen to transparently communicate with foreign governments about institutions here, to strengthen its hand in instances where Indian students abroad suffer.

Almost 1,500 Indian students earlier this year faced deportation from the US after the Tri-Valley University (TVU) was found to be violating the federal US norms

(Hindustan Times)

The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya North Sikkim honour its students

Gangtok: 13th June:The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Shelapthang, Phodong, NorthSikkim,
Government of India has recorded first class in CBSE Board examination 2011 with standard percentage. Today the school organizeda grand felicitation programme for CBSE topper students, school level
topper students and dedicated teachers.
The programme was organized by JNV, Phodong and was attended by DC (N) cum Chairman JNV, TN Kazi as Chief Guest, coordinated by Joint Director, HRDD headquarter, Ugen Lepcha and was also attended by Panchayat Secretary Chungthang, Lhendup Lepcha, the BRC Kabi, PN Pradhan, Principal JNV, T Gopalakrishna, Programme coordinator, PK Niraula, local area Panchayats, teachers, local gentries and students.
The function started with lighting of lamp by guests and Saraswati Vandana presented by the students followed by the welcome speech being presented by SO Humney, SMT, JNV. A colorful cultural programme was also presented by the students as part of the programme.

The function had the felicitation of CBSE class XII toppers, Sanjay Thakur, Tenzing Choden Bhutia and Suren Biswakarma. The CBSE class X toppers, Passangkit Sherpa and Aishwarya K Pillai and the school also felicitated school level class wise topper students and all the dedicated teachers. Student Nim Tshering Lepcha was felicitated with best disciplined student of the school sponsored by guests and Guru Shresta
Award was handed over to few of the teachers for 2009-2010 sessions.The Principal JNV Phodong, in his address said that, the school is in mood of celebration for good efforts made for academic year and
teachers have fully generated the school strength in quality education and extra curriculum. JNV Phodong is moving smoothly to provide good education and it’s a revolution for coming generation, they are always
ready to cater service with public cooperation and blessing. At the end, he quoted Swami Vivekananda ''In a day, when you don’t come across and problems, you can be sure that you are traveling in a wrong path''. So, problems are to experience to get success and we must face it with full zest.The Chief Guest, in his address, heartily congratulated topper students and entire school staff for excellent status which had made a great
pride for whole North District. The DC also said that, the school should stay tuned in same manner and out going students should achieve their goals with disciplined manner and positive thoughts as well.The JD, HRDD Headquarter, also congratulated the entire school and urged the students and teachers to keep up the same zeal and zest in balance for good reputation. The programme ended with National Anthem and Vote of thanks by Ms Geeta, teacher JNV Phodong

(SikkimMail)

‘Cool’ Sikkim touches foreigners - Singapore team to build library in rural school

Gangtok, May 4: Thirty-two students from a school in Singapore are currently visiting Gangtok, interacting with the students of a government school here for whom they will help set up a library.

The students from Fairfield Methodist School (secondary), Singapore, have also brought two-three storybooks each for the library that will be built at Panthang Government Junior High School, 12km from here.

Three teachers are escorting the foreign students who are here for a week-long international exposure trip. The annual trip is a part of the curriculum for the secondary students.

“The trip has been excellent with nice cool weather and the natural beauty of Sikkim which we can’t find in Singapore. Most of us have developed friendship with the students here and all of us are enjoying our stay here,” said Julian Tan, a 15-year-old student.

Today the students of both the schools played a football match on the Pangthang School playground.

The foreign students had arrived here on Sunday and had gone for a daylong trek in a nearby forest with their Sikkimese friends.

The batch is busy learning the Nepali language, playing and sharing their experiences with the 107 students of the government school that teaches students up to Class VIII.

“I can’t say that I know each one of them but at least I can say that I can speak to them openly without feeling awkward. Back there in Singapore there is too much stress among the students but here the students are relaxed and humble. I believe Singapore people have to learn to be humble from them,” said Tan.

The funds, given by the Singapore government and the parents of the school students, are being used to make bookshelves for the library in Panthang school.

“Our students are interacting well with the children. They have painted the walls of the school building and are helping the carpenters to build the bookshelves. It has been a pleasant experience so far and I am delighted to see our students interacting well with the students here,” said Jean Ho, one of the teachers who is escorting the foreign students.

The teacher added that such trips help to understand the cultures of different places. “We want our students to experience different cultures and share the Singapore culture with students from other nations. They also do services in whichever schools they go. Such trips promote understanding of different cultures and develop friendship with students from other nations,” Ho said.

A batch of students from the same school had also visited Panthang School last year. The group had helped to set up a dining hall in the building.

“Last year the students were a bit shy but this time they are more open and interacting well with our students,” said Ho.

The headmistress of Panthang School, Denkala Thendup, said: “They want their students to have an experience of a village-level school and they have also come here to make friends. As the students from Singapore school had also visited this school last year our students have become more interactive and they are easily mingling with them. Such bonding has also developed confidence among our students and their shyness has gone,” she said

Tshering Dorjee Lachungpa, the owner of Khangri Tours and Travels that has co-ordinated the trip along with Singapore-based Divine International Explore and Treks Agency, said students from Singapore had visited Sikkim earlier as well.

He said they mostly went Yuksom in West Sikkim. But for the past three years the students are coming to schools in and around Gangtok.

“We have been choosing Panthang School for the past two years considering the short period of the trips which are usually for 10 days including travelling. Panthang School is close to Gangtok but is located in a rural area with beautiful forests and quiet surroundings. Medical facilities and decent hotel accommodations are easily available in nearby Gangtok,” he said

The students will leave Gangtok on Saturday.

Shillong Students in Gangtok for Study Tour

GANGTOK, November 26: A group of 55 college students from Saint Edmund’s College, Shillong headed by three lecturers is in Gangtok to study various NGO activities in the State as part of their project work in first year graduation in social works.

Today the group visited the Sikkim Government Residential Complex at Syari to study the various community initiatives that have been taken up. One successful initiative has been the solving of the parking problem in which car owners contribute Rs 150 each for the services of a care-taker who ensures the security and safety of the vehicles.

These care-takers are also involved in neighbourhood watch in which they report any unsocial activities to the police beat patrol that visits the locality at 11pm every night. The other initiative which the Shillong group studied was the Syari Litter Free Zone and the management of garbage through door to door collection. All these initiatives have led to employment of local youths.
Rajesh Verma of the Syari Employees Welfare Association and Onex Lepcha, a local youth social worker showed the group around and spelt out the future planned initiatives like setting up of a paper recycling unit in the locality. It was also explained that there was a potential for creating 500 jobs of parking attendants and caretakers in the State if this model can be replicated. Car owners would not mind paying a hundred rupees a month for their vehicles parked unattended on the road side, the visiting group was informed.
The students felt that this initiative could be adopted in Shillong which, they said was also plagued with parking and garbage problems.

Bhutanese students in dress code dilemma

Darjeeling, Nov 17: Bhutanese students across the Darjeeling hills have been caught in a crossfire between the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and police on wearing of their national dress.

The Morcha has asked all students and teachers to wear their traditional dresses for three days a week from October 26 till further notice.

Bhutan government officials, along with senior police officers of Bengal, have appealed to Bhutanese students to stop wearing their national dress, which incidentally is mandatory in their country, while attending colleges in the hills.

The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha, the hill party’s student wing, however, described the appeal as a move to derail the agitation for Gorkhaland. “It is the conspiracy of K.L. Tamta (inspector-general of police, north Bengal) to derail the cultural movement by using the Bhutanese government. The conspiracy is being hatched to create problems before the next tripartite meeting,” said Keshav Raj Pokhrel, the general secretary of the Vidyarthi Morcha.

The Morcha student wing has decided to “be more vigilant” from tomorrow to ensure the strict compliance of the dress code. “If the police want to use their power to ensure that the dress code is not followed, we, too, will use all our means to ensure that the dress code is adhered to by all students,” Pokhrel said.

Tamta, who held a meeting with Bhutanese officials in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, said: “They (the Bhutanese officials) were of the opinion that as foreigners they should not be forced to wear the dress.”

The Bhutanese government also felt that the dress code could pose serious problems for the safety and security of the Bhutanese students in a foreign country, Tamta said.

“After the people of Nepali origin were pushed back to Nepal from Bhutan in 1993, there are apprehensions that Bhutanese citizens could be attacked. Wearing the dress would make them soft targets especially after some members of the Bhutan Tiger Force were arrested in Siliguri a year ago. Their intention is to attack Bhutanese citizens and the government has strong views on this issue,” the police chief of the region said.

Tamta called upon the Morcha to consider the appeal from the Bhutanese officials.

Over a lakh of people of Nepali origin who had been pushed out of Bhutan have been living in refugee camps in eastern Nepal, close to the border with Darjeeling district.

Pokhrel, however, argued that the dress would not make the Bhutanese students “soft targets”. “If anyone is bent on doing something to Bhutanese students, they can easily be identified by their language. Moreover, the refugees were pushed back almost 15 years ago and till now the Bhutanese have never been attacked in the Darjeeling hills,” he said. “Even last year, the Bhutanese students wore their dress for a month without any problem.”

The 700-odd Bhutanese students who mostly study in various Darjeeling and Kalimpong colleges are now in a dilemma. Many of them refused comment when asked about their reaction.

Bhutanese men wear gho, while the women’s dress is called kira. Gho is a knee-length robe, which is tightly wrapped around the body to form a pouch above the waist. The kira is a floor-length cloth wrapped over a wonju or blouse. It is held from the shoulders by komas or hooks. The dress is complete with a short toego or jacket.

Yoksom school topper in state science exhibition

Gangtok,Nov14: Valedictory function of three day State level Science Exhibition 2009 was held on Friday at Paljor Indoor hall. The exhibition was organized by State Institute of Education, HRD Department.
In model competition, Yoksom Senior Secondary School of west district was first; Ke-de-khang Secondary School of east and Temi Sr. Sec. School of south district second and third respectively. They are selected for national level science exhibition. Mr. N K Pradhan, Minister HRD and Sports and Youth Affairs was chief guest on the occasion. He visited all the stalls in the exhibition and praised the students for their exhibits. Last year’s state level competition topper PNG School also participated National Science Exhibition and took 2nd position, an achievement for the state, he said. The Minister distributed trophy, mementos and certificates to participants.

Power developer LANCO starts scholarships in Sikkim School

Majhitar (Rangpo)Nov11: In compliance of its Corporate Social responsibility, LANCO Energy Private Limited in a social welfare programme held at Majhitar Primary School Ground, East Sikkim, distributed scholarship to 18 meritorious students of different schools of South Sikkim where the company is working.
Building and Housing Department Minister Mrs. Tilu Gurung was chief guest and Mr. BS Panth, MLA, Temi-Namphing and Chairman, Power Department, was guest of honour of the programme which was attended by SDPO Mr. Hari Tewari, General Manager LANCO, Mr. SK Sarkar, Advisor Mr. RK Pradhan and Unit Head Mr. BK Ojha. Teachers, students and panchayat members of Namthang-Rateypani and Temi- Namphing constituencies were present in large number.
Mrs. Gurung appreciated LANCO for its involvement in social activities. “Many big companies are currently operating in the state as a result of Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling’s visionary schemes”, she said, adding, “he had the idea of converting unused barren land and ever flowing water of Sikkim into main revenue generator”.
Chief Guest Mrs. Gurung said, 75% of LANCO’s total project is in Namthang-Rateypani constituency. She called upon company officials to have a coordination meeting in near future with her and panchayats of the constituency. More and more locals should be benefited by the company so that they will have full faith in them, she said. She urged the company to come forward in spreading education among people. She asked for total transparency in every project and emphasized on better coordination with locals. She called upon the company to construct a community hall at Namthang.
Guest of Honour Mr. Panth said, every policy of the company should be people-friendly and pro-people. He also praised LANCO for its social activities. He said, “Our people are very innocent, even our youths”, and urged the company officials “to keep a human touch with locals”. “Every company has socio-corporate responsibilities”, he underlined. No hatred or humiliation should be mated to the locals, he emphasized. He congratulated LANCO for encouraging local students with scholarship.
Mentioning dinking water scarcity of Namphing area, Mr. Panth asked LANCO to extend its helping hand in the matter. The company, while doing its construction work, should also maintain greenery and care for conservation of forest, he noted. He advised that the proposed construction of a barrage at Sirwani should be tourism-centric. Manpari-Samardung road should be completed shortly, he told the company.
“Our unskilled youths should be provided skill development training by the company and then employed”, Mr. Panth emphasized. He said the State government will provide every possible legal help to the company. Panchayats also addressed the meeting.
Company officials informed, total 409 locals are employed so far. Every year the State will be paid a revenue of Rs.1.50 crore. On the day, scholarship was given to students of Namthang, Kabrey , Bermiok Tokal and other schools of Temi Namphing and Namthang Rateypani constituency. Fire Fighting pump was handed over to Manpari Busty by LANCO.
On the occasion, a health camp was also organized by the company for handicapped people of the two constituencies. Another camp will organized shortly at Namthang, it is informed. Students of Majhitar School presented a cultural programme on the occasion.

Sikkim Governor and Chief Minister Paints Conflicting pictures of Sikkim Schools

Gangtok,October30: Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had an embarrasing time as governor BP Singh expressed concern at the high dropout rate in schools in the state before Vice-president Hamid Ansari and other dignitories.

Singh was speaking at a seminar on 'Right to Education With Special Reference to Sikkim and Its Impact on Legal Awareness Campaign' here organised by Sikkim High Court on the occasion of its golden jubilee celebrations which was inaugurated by Ansari, who is on a visit to the mountain state.

Earlier, Chamling had painted a bright picture about the state of education in Sikkim saying that the state has one of the highest literacy rates in the country.

The state was recently given an award by a media group in New Delhi for being the best state among the smaller states in primary education, he told the function.

The Union Human Resources Development Ministry has released a report recently stating that the school dropout rate in Sikkim was 85 per cent and was the second worst performer behind Bihar.

85% School dropout rate in Sikkim

GANGTOK, October 26: It is the ultimate irony of Sikkim – twenty percent of the State’s annual budget is ‘allocated’ for education sector and yet out of thousands of boys and girls enrolled into primary schools, only twenty percent on an average make it senior secondary level and even less numbers pursue a degree course in colleges, as per the analysis of a national report suggest.


In a telling rebuttal to the State Government’s education implementation, the annual report 2008-09 of Ministry of Human Resource Development listed Sikkim in the second position in the national ranking of dropouts.

As per figures outlined by the HRD Ministry in its annual report, Sikkim recorded 85 percent school dropouts rate from Class I to X for the year 2006-07! This percentage is much higher than the national average of 59.9 percent.

Bihar stands on top of the heap with 85.1 percent – Only 0.1 percent separates the leader and second best in the infamy list of dropouts.

According to the HRD Ministry report, a total of 85.2 percent dropout rate has been recorded for girls between Class I to X of Sikkim while it is 84.8 percent dropout for boys taking the total dropout rate to 85 percentage for the year 2006-07. This means that 85 percent of the school goings students of Sikkim dropped out without reaching the senior secondary levels and only 15 percent managed to reach the senior secondary schools and much less, saw college education.

Sikkim does reasonably good in the primary education levels with the dropout rate from Class I to IV standing at 24.3 percentage, marginally below the national average of 25.4 percentage for the year 2006-07. However, the picture disintegrates in the upper primary school levels (Class I-VIII) with dropout rates of Sikkim skyrocketing to 65.5 percentage, much higher than the national average of 46 percentage.

Though the HRD Ministry in its report has not published the factors for the abnormally high dropout rates in Sikkim, local stakeholders here pointed out that lack of quality education, economic compulsions and social issues are the responsible factors.

The quality education factor is interesting as Sikkim boasts one of the highest teacher-student ratios in the nation.

Sikkim High Court today stayed Sikkim Manipal Medical Student's discharge

Gangtok , Oct 22 The Sikkim High Court today stayed the Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS); aposs decision to discharge three second-year students enrolled in an MBBS course for failing to secure 50 per cent marks in the entrance test.

The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice A P Subba and Justice S P Wandi on a writ petition filed by the aggrieved students - Tekhelnayum Sayon Singh, Rohit Tiwari and Monalisa.

They have challenged the SMIMS notice discharging them from the institute with effect from today after they failed to secure 50 per cent marks in an entrance test held last year.

The students say that they had been given admission by the institute through a proper procedure during which they were intimated in writing by the authorities about their selection in the MBBS and asked to appear for counseling before being given admission after payment of fees of about Rs four lakhs.

Sikkim Government College celebrates 32nd Foundation Day

Gangtok,October17: Sikkim Government College, Tadong, observed its 32nd Foundation Day at the college auditorium on Friday, October 16. Speaking as chief guest of the function, Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling said, “Today’s need is job-oriented education” and emphasized on quality education. “21st century is age of education”, he said and pointed out “teaching and learning should go hand in hand”. He advised the students not to fetter away their time and energy and urged them to recognize the importance of the present time.
“Our government will give top priority to human resource development”, he said adding, “a teacher should get every comfort so that he can dedicate himself to his duty. “We are spending 22% of total budget in education”, CM noted. He said 4th Pay Commission is implemented and the state cabinet has passed a resolution in line of University Grant Commision (UGC). Though it a bit late, but it will be implemented soon, he said. A skill development centre will be established in every constituency, he informed. He said 30 students from science in 1st year will be sent directly to Manipal and Banglore for BSc. Nursing course and 80 students are already sent for paramedical and pilot training. He candidly said, “I could not get a chance to attend college but I will never let my students down in education”.
CM vented his displeasure about the society today which he called lackadaisical where the people are only self-seekers and neither help each other nor takes a stand on any matter. “A self centered person who never feels hurt seeing young ones getting into bad practices is a burden for a society”, he underlined. “Hitler, though successful, was not a good person”, he observed. Commenting on “emerging racial groups in educational institutions”, CM said, educational institutions must be kept away from casteism and communal feeling”.
Regarding demands of the college raised by Principal Dr. MP Kharel, Chief Minister promised to fulfill every one of them. Modern well equipped laboratory, gymnasium, smooth road to auditorium, canteen, standard teacher quarters will be made as early as possible, he assured. He also assured that a well furnished, attractive world class college library with one lakh books will be provided along with. A football ground will be constructed and the basketball court will be repaired, he added. About shortage of lecturers he said, 25 posts of lecturers will be created soon. HRDD Minister Mr NK Pradhan also spoke on the occasion.
Earlier NCC cadets of the college gave a guard of honour to CM. A memento was presented to the Chief Minister by Principal. Students presented different cultural items. Sikkim University Vice chancellor Prof. Mahendra P Lama, Ministers, MLAs, HRDD officers, principals of all government colleges of Sikkim, former principals of SGC, Tadong , lecturers, students comprised a capacity gathering on the occasion

46.1% of School children are using tobacco in Sikkim

Gangtok, October 14 : Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim, (VHAS), with support from Voluntary Health Association of India, (VHAI), New Delhi, has been working towards making ‘Sikkim a Smoke Free State' through key focus areas like media advocacy, policy focused research capacity building, networking, coalition building, formation of state level resource centre, monitoring and reporting of violations, building smoke free zones and developing advocacy materials. The endeavor is to persistently work towards educating the Sikkimese society towards smoke free environment.

Health problem due to tobacco is enormous. Globally, it kills 1 in every 2 tobacco smokers in productive years of life, 54 Lakhs (5.4 million) people die annually due to tobacco consumption which is greatest preventable killer disease. In India it kills 8-9 Lakhs and poor spend 10 to 20% of money on Tobacco. In Sikkim, 46.1% (almost half) of School children have reported using some form of tobacco. 75% of deaths are due to Non Communicable Diseases and tobacco is major cause for the same.

Public Awareness campaigns are being organized regularly by VHAS in various places of Sikkim. In order to see the provisions of the National Tobacco Control Act, 2003, are not being violated by the mass, the anti tobacco staff of VHAS has been regularly visiting public places in the State.

Sikkim for education policy reforms in state

Sikkim Education Minister N.K.Pradhan, Sikkim M.P. P.D.Rai, Sikkim Education Secretary Ravindra Telang, IAS announcing launch of "Educational Reform Renewal Mission-2010 " in an inter-active function held in Chintan Bhawan yesterday with Teachers, Heads of Schools, Retired  Govt. Officers,NGO's from all four districts of Sikkim.

Gangtok,October14: With the launching of the Education Reform Renewal Mission 2010 in a programme held today here at Chintan Bhawan, Sikkim has become the first State in India to start reformations in the education sector.


This, the department officials said, was taken up in view of the objective of the State Government in ushering in high quality education delivery system at every level.

On the occasion, workshop on education reformation was also organized by the State Human Resources and Development Department, which were attended by MP, Lok Sabha PD Rai as the chief guest. Also present were the HRDD Minister, NK Pradhan, Secretary, R Telang, Principals, teachers, retired teachers and representatives from NGOs from all over Sikkim.

“The mission aims in drafting a new education policy with high quality education deliverance that can be visible in the government schools of Sikkim changing the old bygone perception that existed in the sector and making such changes which can be felt by the students and guardians alike followed by the society in general,” the HRDD minister said in his inaugural address.

“The workshop will formulate the government’s new policy on education and will be completely with indigenous effort and collective ideas as to reformation and renewal of education of the state so as to improve and bring about reform in education as well,” Mr. Pradhan said.

Stating that the teaching profession in Sikkim has always been looked down by the people and does not want to join in this profession, the Minister said that the increase of the salary by the government have made good brains think twice to join in the profession. “We hope that best teachers will now available in the State,” he said adding that the teachers seeking transfers on deputation to any other department will be not entertained.

The workshop will also have participants discuss upon the methods of transforming the existing delivery by holding consultation at various levels of teachers, principals, parents and other stake holders, the Minister further said.

R Telang, the Secretary of the department said the workshop will discuss over the things that blocked the free process of education system of the state and bring about the changes along with new fresh ideas into consideration so as to bring quality in education in the state.

He said that the reform will be brought from administrative aspects to academic reform in the state with collective effort including from parents.

To look into issues faced by the children, Mr. Telang said discussion will be conducted at the District levels and sub division levels by way of forming committees.

“Soon after the meetings with the stake holders in every district, probably by the end of the year, there would be over a final policy drafting which is hopefully expected to be implemented from February 2010,” the secretary said.

Later, addressing a press conference, the State HRDD Minister said, issues such as drop outs, enrollment, and capacity building of the teachers would be few of the areas to be addressed upon.

On his part, MP Lok Sabha said the mission has been robustly designed keeping the local need in mind in which the views and the opinions of almost 3,000 stake holders from all across the state would be taken up. “This method would enhance the education system to run as how the people want,” he added.

Kashmiri students in Sikkim & Darjeeling

A group of 38 students and three teachers from Jammu and Kashmir toured Darjeeling and Sikkim from September 28 as part of an educational excursion that was organised by the Black Cat Division of the army.

The tour was conducted as part of the Operation Sadbhavana to enhance the awareness of students from the remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir on the culture and heritage of different parts of the country.

The excursion was also aimed to showcase the dedication of Indian soldiers to the nation and the conditions under which they operate. It was expected to motivate the students towards joining the armed forces and serving the country.

The itinerary of the students in Sikkim from September 30 to October 3 included visit to places of interest in and around Gangtok and a trip to Nathu-la on the India-China border where the youths interacted with the army personnel deployed there.

Maj. Gen. R.S. Chopra, the general-officer-commanding of the Black Cat division, addressed the visiting students.

From September 28 to 30, the students toured Darjeeling hills under the aegis of the Darjeeling brigade of the 27 Mountain Division.

The students enjoyed the picturesque surroundings of Darjeeling with Mount Kanchenjungha as the backdrop. They were taken to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the zoological park, the Japanese Peace Pagoda and the Batasia War Memorial.

CBSE Status of Mount Deepam School in Gangtok stir up hornet's nest

Gangtok,October09: Mount Deepam School in Church road, Gangtok was established in 1995 by Johny Kutty. C.J who is also the Principal of the school. The total strength of the school is 300 and has been claiming affiliation with C.B.S.C Board since 2000. The School has been running Standard IX & X for last 4 years although as per reports School isnot afiliated with CBSE as claimed.
The School has been charging a fee of Rs.1000/- instead CBSE recommended amount of Rs.350/-per month. The School requires atleast 1acre land area to be affiliated with CBSE which the rented premises of Mount Deepam School fails to meet the requisite criteria.The School Management has claimed to make arrangement with other schools to allow Standard IX&X students to appears in exams such as New Light School of Namchi and Greendale School of Gangtok.
The school has 12 teaching staff and 4 non-teaching staff. Active participation on extra curricular activities such as sports is the priority and its promotion among children.

75th year celebrations of Namchi Senior Secondary School (NSSS)

Platinum Jubilee celebration of NSSS all set for Oct 14

Namchi,October07: A final meeting of the committee for Platinum Jubilee celebration of Namchi Senior Secondary School (NSSS) was held here at the Indoor Stadium on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Mrs. Tika Maya Chamling who is also the chairperson of the celebration committee.
Established in 1934 “to build a healthy and prosperous society”, NSSS has completed 75 years to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee on 14th October this year. “Ever onward” has been the motto of the school over the years.
The celebration is likely to bring all the ex-students of the school under one roof to remember their school days and friends by way of a reunion. The celebration committee is formed with ex-students as members to extend their support for a grand success of the event.
The committee has decided to pay homage to the founder members and land donor of this school by constructing a Platinum Pillar in front of this heritage school building and to also construct an information and communication technology (ICT) building with modern IT facilities to shape the future of the pupils by their holistic development. The committee has also planned to institute awards and scholarships to the meritorious and deserving students of the school.
The meeting discussed at length various issues pertaining to the celebration and job distribution. Construction of pandals, food and refreshment arrangement, preparation of cultural items and many other jobs were shortlisted for ex-students, celebration committee members, present students of the school and its teaching staff.
Individuals who were given various responsibilities in the previous meetings shared their views, suggestions, plans and opinions on the proper management for the celebration. The Joint Director, HRDD South, T. B. Vhettri, Principal NSSS, YP Nepal, were among those who shared their views.
The meeting was attended by former Minister GM Gurung who is vice chairman of the celebration committee, District Collector South, AK Singh, Deputy Director S/W Sports and Youth Affairs, Kamal Chettri, Chief Medical Officer, Bimal Rai, members of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration Committee, ex- students, student representatives from NSSS, teaching staff and members of the school management committee.

26 SMIT students suspended for rioting & Clash

GANGTOK, October 6: Classes in Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) at Majitar resumed from today after almost one month since a clash broke out two groups of students.

The SMIT had suspended classes on September 8 after a volley ball match issue snowballed into a major clash and full scale rioting by the students that required strong measures from the police. The authorities also ordered the suspension of the classes, prematurely, for the Puja vocations and the institute resumed classes from today on a peaceful note.

Meanwhile, 26 students have been identified by the SMIT authorities as those who instigated the clash and rioting.

Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) Vice Chancellor Brig (retd) Surjit Singh Pabla said today that 26 students of SMIT have been identified for suspension for their involvement in the incident as per the interim report of the seven member empowered committee. The committee had been constituted to probe into the SMIT students’ clash.
Out of the 26 students, suspension orders for 17 have been issued and their concerned guardians have been intimidate for the decision of the institute, said the VC. Suspension orders for the remaining students involved in the incident are under process, he said.
The suspension order ranges from two to four weeks.
Brig Pabla said that a number of other students of SMIT have still to depose themselves before the committee and final action will be taken after that. Submission of the final report by the committee is still pending and action against some more students in future cannot be ruled out, he added.
At the same time, the VC asserted that the SMU administration is very much conscious in dealing against those responsible for the September 8 incident since they are students.
Brig Pabla said that a number of steps have been taken by the SMU in consultation with the State government to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future.
A chief security officer and a chief hostel warden for the both the campuses have been appointed. Brig (retd) SR Mazagavankar is the chief security officer for SMIT and he joined duty from the third week of September, it is informed.
Fifteen private security guards too have been deployed at the SMIT campus. The management is also keen to recruit more security personnel in future.
A special operation procedure has also been formulated by the university to prevent re-occurrence of such incidents, said the VC. He added that several teams of teachers have been constituted at SMIT to keep a watch on the activities of the students in the hostels and in the campus as well.

Sikkim Manipal (SMIT) reopens for academic activities

Gangtok,October5: Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT) today reopened after nearly a one month-shutdown, following violence between two groups of students.

Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) vice-chancellor Brig (rtd) SS Pabla told PTI "academic activities resumed in the SMIT campus here from today and almost all outstation students have returned for studies".

On the measures to maintain law and order in the SMIT campus, Pable said that a three-tier set up had been put in place to address the grievances of the students.

About the investigation into the clashes between rival group of students that left seven injured, the vice-chancellor said that an inquiry was on and the final report would be submitted soon by the seven-member committee.

"Apart from the inquiry, we have suspended about 25 students, ten of them for their direct involvement in the brawl with fellow students and seven-eight others on charges of damaging properties in the campus and the rest for indiscipline"", Pabla said.

Further action will be taken against all those found guilty of various charges of offence, he said