Agartala, February 06, 2025: Tripura Chief Minister Prof Dr. Manik Saha on Wednesday emphasized the importance of building a strong foundation for the future generation while inaugurating the state-level Teaching Learning Material (TLM) competition cum exhibition at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan in Agartala city on Thursday.
“Today’s children are the future of tomorrow. Teachers will have to work to strengthen their foundation from an early age,” said Dr. Saha. He highlighted the state government’s objective to formulate various policies and programs to ensure quality education in educational institutions, including providing loans and scholarships to deserving students for higher education.
Dr. Saha drew an analogy between constructing a building and educating children: “If the foundation is not strong during the construction of a building, it cannot rise to the top. Similarly, the foundation of children should be strengthened from childhood.” He praised the education department’s efforts in managing such learning materials at a low cost, noting the commendable implementation of the National Education Policy formulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The National Education Policy includes a system for creating such teaching learning materials. The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that in the future, the country or the world will be in the hands of those who have knowledge. Without knowledge, nothing can be done,” Dr. Saha added. He also mentioned the Nipun Tripura project, launched in Tripura on November 18, 2022, which aims to achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills by 2026-27.
Addressing the critics, Dr. Saha stated, “Many times, the critics say that the students of Tripura are not doing well. In this case, they blame the teachers for not teaching well. Our goal is that all schools should do well. The government is working in that direction.” He highlighted the involvement of about 12,000 teachers and the participation of 4,227 government and government-aided schools under the Nipun Tripura Mission.
Dr. Saha emphasized the importance of innovative teaching in the classroom, stating, “It is very good when small children complete their tasks through worksheets, then as a teacher, you also get a sense of satisfaction.” He encouraged the continuation of such efforts to develop the basic foundation and skills of children aged 3 to 7 years.
The Chief Minister noted the national-level appreciation for the TLM exhibition, which witnessed fair competition among foundational literacy and numeracy graded teachers. “This trend should be continued in the future as well,” he said, stressing the importance of sustainable teaching learning materials and financial support from the department.
Special Secretary of the Education Department Ravel Hemendra Kumar, Director N C Sharma, Director of SCERT L Darlong, and Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Subhkarananda Maharaj were present as distinguished guests. Awards and honors were given in various categories at the event, which saw the participation of over 7,000 teachers from across the state.
Dr. Saha concluded with an inspiring note, “The students of NLU Tripura will contribute immensely to society and nation-building. I congratulate everyone involved in this institution-building task.”
