Shillong, 14 July 2025: Shri Sanjay Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India, visited the North East Regional Institute of Education (NERIE), Shillong, accompanied by Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director of NCERT.

The visit began with a welcome address by Prof. Flourette G. Dkhar, I/c Principal, NERIE. Shri Swapnil Tambe, IAS, Secretary, Education Department, Government of Meghalaya, lauded NERIE’s role in teacher training and shared the state’s initiatives to improve educational outcomes through school rationalisation.

Prof. Saklani highlighted NCERT’s national contributions and reiterated the need to upgrade NERIE’s infrastructure to match its counterparts. He called for land and resources to expand its facilities in line with the growing regional demand.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Sanjay Kumar stressed the importance of ensuring no child is left out of the education system, with a focus on foundational learning and critical thinking. He urged NERIE to expand its B.Ed. capacity and implement the Four-Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP). He also called for establishing a Demonstration Multipurpose School (DMS) and introducing vocational education from Class 6.

Appealing to the Meghalaya government for land allotment, Shri Kumar emphasised that strengthening NERIE is crucial to achieving the goals of NEP 2020 and producing more professionally trained teachers in the North East.

The visit concluded with the inauguration of the newly built Kanaklata Girls’ Hostel and the NERIE Guest House, followed by a vote of thanks by Prof. Subhas Chandra Roy, Dean (Instruction), NERIE.