Kullu, Manali pupils get laptops

Our Correspondent

KULLU, JUNE 9

Education, Language, Art and Culture Minister Govind Singh Thakur, ridiculing the Delhi education model, has said there are around 1,036 government schools in Delhi, which has a population of around 3.25 crore, while Himachal, having a population of around 70 lakh, has 16,000 government schools.

Addressing a gathering during the laptop distribution ceremony to meritorious students at Atal Sadan here today, he said around 15 lakh students were getting education in the state and over 2 lakh undergoing higher education. He said the teacher-student ratio in the state was the best in the country. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had announced a university in Mandi and students from Lahaul & Spiti, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Kangra would benefit.

The minister said the population growth was a resource and not a liability. The new National Education Policy would provide cultured and vocational education to the children. The youth were an asset to the nation. Their skills would be developed and the special emphasis be laid on research.

Later, 775 laptops were given to the meritorious students of the Kullu and Manali by the minister.

Earlier, the minister presided over a function on International Archives Day by the State Archive Wing of the Art, Language and Culture Department at Dev Sadan. He said archives were of importance for information about history.

Prem Prasad Sharma, Deputy Director, Archives Wing of the Department of Language and Culture, said the Himachal State Archives was established in 1986 with the objective of aggregating and preserving the historical and written heritage of Himachal Pradesh.