In a year, Maharashtra jumped from 15th to 3rd place in terms of quality of education: CM Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said Maharashtra, which has been "languishing at either 14th or 15th place in terms of quality of education", has moved to the third place in the last one year.

He also announced that a Board of Studies would be set up for 'divyang' (differently-abled) students in the state.

"For the last few years, Maharashtra was languishing at either 14th or 15th place in terms of quality of education. But we have jumped to the third position in the past one year. In the future, the state will be number one in the education sector," Fadnavis said.

The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering after presenting the Adarsh Shikshak and Savitribai Phule Adarsh Shikshika (Best Teacher awards) to 109 teachers here.

"The state government disburses around Rs 50,000 crore to the education sector but it does not consider it an expenditure but an investment for the future.

"Teachers are responsible for readying the young generation for the future and making them fine, law-abiding citizens. Students' uplift cannot happen without these teachers," he said.

Fadnavis said that this year, 25,000 schools have been made digital and that the state government will undertake 'Maharashtra Net' on the lines of 'Bharat Net' being implemented by the Centre.

"Under this, the health and education services will be made available to people at the village level. For instance, in Nagpur, 750 gram panchayats have been completely digitalised," he said.

The digitalisation will ensure the gap between cities and villages decreases and by 2018, we will provide digital connectivity to all gram panchayats, he added.

"For the divyang students a Board of Studies will be constituted," Fadnavis said, adding the focus of his government is on innovative teaching methods, Right to Education among others.

This award ceremony for teachers from Maharashtra was organised by School Education Department, where Education Minister Vinod Tawde and other dignitaries were present, a statement from chief ministers office said.

The 109 awardees include 38 primary and 39 secondary teachers besides 19 from tribal schools and two sports teachers and those from other categories.