Arunachal’s Changlang district wins PM’s award for unique learning centre

Arunachal Pradesh’s remote Changlang district was in the news for all the right reasons. It received on Friday the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in the category of innovation for its New Age Learning Centre initiative.

NALC, inaugurated last year on May 7 by Minister Kamlung Mossang, is a state-of-the-art, flexible, and futuristic leisure learning space-cum-library which allows all age groups to learn and thereby improve different facets of their personality.

Established in Miao subdivision of the district, NALC shows the way to make reading, learning and self-education interesting for all, especially the youth.

Sunny K. Singh, the Deputy Commissioner of the district, the brain behind NALC received the coveted award from PM in New Delhi.

Keeping in tune with the changing times, the NALC’s focus is also on e-learning to help the new generation realise their aspirations and thus it has free Wi-Fi, e-reading through kindle, online training through tablets, among other facilities.

NALC’s infrastructure quality is good as it has modern furniture and modular furnishing and the space has been designed according to the tastes and needs of the children conforming with the New Education Policy.

The lighting is sufficient with even dedicated stations provided for those children aspiring to become writers. Other features include stocking of books of different types of genres – like fiction, non-fiction, biographies, autobiographies, motivational and academic and also books that help in preparing for competitive examinations.

The library has provision for air conditioning and heating and CCTV surveillance for security making the entire environment safe for learning. Besides this, members are encouraged to engage in educational activities, give feedback and also initiate peer-to-peer learning.

While the membership is free, the centre is kept open for children and members on all days and also late nights during exams. Singh added that the staff ensures seamless operation thereby reducing idle time and increasing the usage.

Reacting to the award, Singh told the media: “It is a proud moment for all of us.”

Also read: Arunachal’s Miao subdivision gets State’s first futuristic library