By: IFP
A: IFP’s edit quite rightly said, “The private schools are doing what the government schools are incapable of.” This writer would like to be more direct and say: The private schools are doing the job of the government schools … and Manipur is losing in the bargain. These twisted roles, actually, show us where the crux, the woes and tragedy of Manipur’s failed education lie. They show up not only about the much-maligned education provided by the government schools (and colleges), but even the unhappy side of private institutions (both schools and colleges). Whereas, the truth is all four – government schools and colleges and private schools and colleges - have a most symbiotic relationship. And much like nature’s food chain, if even one of the four goes missing, or is not up to the mark, the chain breaks down … as it has in Manipur. This is in spite of great efforts by some private schools. As for the government the less said the better, although in all fairness, they needn’t be like they are today.
The word failed, to describe the state of education in Manipur, has been deliberately chosen. It is the sum total of the declining enrolment figures, the long years of 30-40% pass percent in Board and Council examinations, with creditable performance restricted to 20/40-odd time-tested private schools, with almost nil performance from government schools, and an ever-increasing exodus of students to other parts of the country. Studying outside the state is not a bad thing in itself, except that the growing numbers is evidence of dis-satisfaction with the education available in the state. And, of course, the huge economic drain that a poor state like ours can ill-afford. In all this, the odd thing is that the pass percent at the degree level – read that as MU results – hovers in the range of 60-70%! That MU enrolment yet declines is also evidence that potential graduates are looking beyond mere passing! Hence, the word failed.
B: Presented below is this writer’s mix of a very generalized and simplified history of school education in Manipur (with college education naturally included), schooling’s many convolutions and the fallout thereof. They read like this:
In the ‘50s and ‘60s there were some standard government schools (and colleges) that could, by any yardstick, have been considered good. Yet around the same time, a growing number of parents who wanted a little more - and a little different - for their children, responded enthusiastically to a few private ventures, like the old Montessori in the heart of the Kangla and the Catholic Mission Schools of Don Bosco (Chingmeirong), Nirmalabas (MG Avenue), and a bit later, Little Flower School (Airport Road). Such parents felt – and quite rightly so – that these mission schools, backed by their world-wide experience were an answer to their prayers. These schools brought in a sparkle and a freshness missing in the growing drabness of government institutions, no matter how good they were in their own time.
And so those were the days when these private school teachers – lowly paid as they were - could be seen on rickshaws with a pile of students’ exercise books taken home for correction. One remembers teachers were judged by the amount of homework they took home. (Imagine that today!) More important, the teacher too took pride in the height of the pile of her/his homework! It is like saying: the more schoolwork a teacher took home, the more the teacher loved her/his job and was respected for it. (This is something that is significantly missing these days). Society saluted them quietly, although, on Teacher’s Day, some government teacher or the other was invariably garlanded and honoured as District and State’s Best Teacher … a practice that more often than not undeservingly continues till date. Not that the privates lose sleep over it. But this writer mentions this just to point out the harm such misplaced honouring does: it announces that merit and hard-work goes un-noticed, un-rewarded and the sweat of private teachers is to be taken for granted.
The seventies confirmed that government institutions were failing to deliver and were actually petering out. The resultant mushrooming of private schools just had to happen. And perforce they had to take up the role of provider of even the very basics ... the basics bidden goodbye to by government institutions.
Now, quite naturally, a society that has always held education in high esteem had now to turn to the private sector. Nothing wrong with that, but the root problem was that where the government had provided free education, the private schools had to charge for it. The universal thumb rule being something like: Pay more and get a better education. A subsequent problem was that the majority of the mushrooming private schools, were more into horizontal growth, and could not cater to the rising aspirations of serious students and their extremely serious parents. So, for a growing number of students and parents, the educational institutions of other states became a more attractive proposition … and thus began an educational diaspora.
The result was that from around the late-70s to early 90s, very slowly but surely, the screws were tightened on the growing but still extremely few reputed private schools. These unfairly called ‘elitist’ schools were pressurized by society to charge low fees so that a larger section of its good-education-starved society could avail of their dedicated services. This situation has not changed for the better, because even 30 years later, the state capital’s best schools continue to charge paltry monthly tuition fees ranging from Rs.150/ - to Rs.300/- only; the government ones are in the pits and anywhere near 40-50 thousand Manipurians are pursuing their studies outside the state!
Here, it must be said that if good education can be got at this real-time low cost of below 300/- per month, it must be grabbed and held onto, as if for dear life. But, if such availability is only possible at the cost of the private teacher getting paid a pittance – as is the case in Manipur - then it calls for wholesale reform. Going by their hard work, their working and service conditions, their performance in terms of – say results in public examinations where, time and again, they have proved their mettle – and their overall lack of security, the private teachers of Manipur desperately, and deservedly, need a fair deal. By asking for more for the private teachers, almost Oliver Twist-like, one is not proposing something strange or unique. Rather, that we are behaving like Mr. Bumble and Co. and doing the opposite is strange and unique, in that we, as a state, unfairly exploit this dedicated and vital work force. What then needs to be done?
C: For putting things in a better perspective, so as to suggest a mini road map to show us what needs to be done, one has to consider that the private schools of Guwahati today charge tuition fees ranging from Rs.400/ - to Rs.2000/- plus, per month (for day-scholars, not boarders)! In brief, they cater to suit every pocket and aspiration. Also, to be noted is that today’s Assam still boasts of many good government schools (and colleges), something most unlike Manipur. Yet, thousands of Assamese opt to study in Assam’s more expensive private schools and colleges. Yet again, many more thousands still go and study outside the state, with some parents willingly forking out over a lakh of rupees per annum in fees only. This is to say that in Assam, and in all parts of the country, where one studies and how much one wants to pay for education is one’s choice. And, why not? Thus it is that, if private attempts at providing quality education are sincerely made, such endeavours should be encouraged and not curbed … even if fees are high … as long as citizens respond appreciatively, teachers are paid well, and the school is constantly upgrading and innovating. Such things don’t come cheap, as every parent whose child studies outside knows too well.
Manipur, thus, must create the environment to allow the same … because the concern here is that education is much more than passing or doing well in examinations, and that Manipur’s private teachers earn too little. Their low pay discourages the attracting of the best and those that get employed lead to a service that amounts to a fair degree of exploitation by a tough master.
Tough master? Surprisingly, the tough master is not always the school authorities. Their hands are more often than not tied. Importantly and incredibly it is society, in general, and the government institutions and their teachers, in particular that are the tough masters!
Surprised? Well, you see, ours is a society that forgives those who ought not to be forgiven, viz. the non-performing government and its and its even less performing teachers (from whom we no longer expect anything). Yet, inexplicably, we come down heavily on private schools and their teachers. By parting with 200/- or so per month, as the school fees for our wards, we expect the moon from the private schools and their teachers. In fact, we will readily complain (as we must!) when homework is not corrected, or this or that has been or not been done. We shall express our unhappiness over a certain teacher, seek change or even dismissal when we find one below our expectations (as we must!).
What, however, is difficult to digest is that this same ‘quality conscious society’ keeps absolutely mum, even respectful, where government teachers are concerned. Or should that be: When government teachers are not concerned!? Why doesn’t, ‘as we must,’ apply to them? Ought not this social error in judgement be corrected? Ought not society tell the government and its teachers firmly, that they have been employed to do a specific job, which is teaching … plus more. And, that there’s no other way but to teach, and teach well. If they do not want to teach, then they have to be made to do so. Or they should leave and give the job to someone willing. If they can’t do their job anymore, or mind very much when a parent comes to make a genuine complaint, or suggestion, then that’s all the more reason to retire and make room for those who want to teach, and not mind being corrected. Mind you, what is said above is not unique. After all, this is happening to private schools and their teachers all the time. It is what keeps them on their toes and makes them improve every now and then. Why then must society spare the government teachers? What hold have they on us that we surrender to their … whatever?! This peculiar situation ushers in the divide between government school and private school products … all to no one’s gain.
D: You see, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Imphal’s low fee structures simply could not create the environment for quality education to continue, trends of which were set in the 60s. In 2007 the situation is worse. These schools were and are still in a Catch-22 situation. To meet their ever-increasing expenses – from salary to repairs to creating new infrastructure etc. without considerably increasing fees - many sacrifices in things that are aids to quality education had, and still have to be made. For instance, the teacher:student ratios went (and still go) for a six; schools had to double, even triple the number of students in each class by opening more and more crowded sections of each class; schools began supplying text books, exercise books, uniforms, badges and ties to supplement their incomes, and as a hedge for futures that got more and more complex, un-predictable and dangerous. As a consequence, quality education that is associated with ideal teacher:student ratios, innovations, training, organized games and other very important co- and extra-curricular activities had to be kissed good-bye. So, two things moved at snail’s pace, viz. the school fees and the salaries of teachers. But the main sufferer, in real terms, was always the school teacher … and slowly but surely the people of the state.
To make ends meet the over-worked private school teacher supplemented incomes through several backbreaking home tuitions, and no wonder, the days of the teacher carrying homework became a thing of the past. Yet the overworked teacher did not complain. She/he knew her/his school’s fee structure and need for increased student strength, and everything else. She/he also knew that crowded classrooms increased the scope for more private tuitions (though saying that is a bit unfair). The main reason, however, which all parties were using to their own advantage, was that jobs were (and are) still terribly scarce. Nonetheless, this important employment, with its package of hard work, low pay and insecurity just cannot attract the best to take up a profession that, actually, needs the best, or, as near to it as possible. What becomes obvious is that salaries have to double or more to attract far better teachers for far better education. Only then can we hope for the impact we so desperately need in today’s Manipur … to prepare our youth for today’s highly competitive world. In the meanwhile Manipur continues to suffer.
But coming back to a sharp and shaming contrast: the opposite was happening on the government front, e.g. teacher:student ratios fell so low they would have been the envy of the most developed of western nations; staff strength doubled or tripled the more the students sought enrolment elsewhere; the teacher’s workload hit rock-bottom while salary soared and, ironically, with more funds allocated in the budget, the infrastructure deteriorated, crumbled all the quicker … and education, as provided by the government, kissed our shores good-bye!
In all this, the surprising thing is that the pressure groups that came into being (certainly not because of education!) turned all their attention, effort and might (not excluding ire) against the private efforts – especially Catholic Mission Schools – while not raising even an eyebrow, or lifting (even a little) finger against the government school (and college) teachers. That this discrimination of letting go the government school and college teacher, not only scot-free but completely un-accountable (that too for decades on end), is beyond this writer’s comprehension. In truth, this lapse on the part of Manipurian society, not only becomes suspect, but, much worse, it has been counter-productive. One has only to look at the hundreds of crores of rupees being pumped outside the state … all for a better education. One has to look at the annual churning out of failed candidates of both BSEM and COHSEM … by their thousands in a land where employment and the climate for employment can be said to be fast drying up.
At this point, attention is drawn to a particularly disappointing and disturbing thing, viz.: Why didn’t a significant number, from so large a number of Ojhas, fail to stand and be counted in stemming the rot that was destroying education? There was time but there were no reformers. This decaying process took several decades … infecting school by school (college by college), neighbourhood by neighbourhood, area by area, region by region … till it engulfed the whole state. Yet, who stood against this cancer that ate the very vitals of a society? Tragically, no one! (Now if the private institutions too suffered the same malaise, there’d be nothing to say. But as they have been keeping the examination performance flag aloft they deserve a respite, whereas there is much too much to say against government personnel). It is, therefore, the view of this writer that for the state and its people to finally get the education it so desperately needs, two things are required:
(a) The government’s educational institutions have to be ‘born again’, to borrow a Christian parlance, by whatever means, and
(b) the private educational institutions have to be given the freedom to go for the stars … an aspiration that does not come cheap. This is to say, that the hitherto reining in of the private schools of Manipur has to go, for the sake of the land’s future!
E : Immediate and long-term solution, a suggestion:-
The past needs to be buried. Past government rules, orders, and policies have not been able to change the government schools (and colleges) and their teaching and non-teaching staff. It is, therefore, time for result-oriented action, and who better to depend upon than the ubiquitous JACs … whose success rate is commendable. It is, therefore, suggested that education-specific JACs be formed.
For every group of government schools and colleges in a particular well-defined area, one JAC should be formed. (Repeat, only one. Please). For instance, if Keisampat has 4 JB Schools, 4JHSs, 2 HSSs and one college, it should have one education specific JAC, e.g. the Keisampat New Education JAC/KNE-JAC. Such well-directed bodies would have to work on two remedial measures, viz. immediate remedial measures and long-term remedial measures. For the immediate remedial measures, they would need to use their considerable persuasive powers to ensure that, from day one of formation, a new chapter begins. How? Well, from Day-1:
(i) The JACs have to ensure that every teacher and student is present every day in their respective institutions, and stay in the campus for a minimum of six (6) hours every working day.
(ii) The JACs have to ensure that each and every class is taken and attended to.
(iii) The JAC should work out a minimum of 200 working days in consultation with teachers, the respective PTAs and student representatives of their well-defined areas. (This can be achieved by sacrificing some government listed holidays … knowing that teachers come under vacation department, and so can forego many listed holidays for the sake of students and the future of the land).
(iv)
If, for starters, these three simple steps (for which no new government orders to please the Governor are required) can be part of Manipurian life again, they alone would bring the proverbial sea change. This change would answer, at the minimum, fifteen lakh students’ and parents’ prayers! Imagine … 15 lakh showers of blessing and gratitude falling upon teachers! And the JACs! What more can one ask for in life? The only cost would be: some JAC members have to be on duty, by rotation, in each school/college under their influence for a stretch of 6 months to a year. After which the work culture would be like it was in the 50s and 60s.
For the long-term remedial measures, the JACs should slowly, surely and methodically look into the functioning of government schools and colleges of their area, and work to resolve the many difficulties and sticky issues that would certainly come up. But, in 6 months’ time, the JACs would be resourceful and resolute enough - as a directly affected stakeholder - to sort things out. Then and only then would Michael Ts become a dime a dozen, and the JACs do the land a service for which generations would remember and be grateful for. Then soon, very soon, one can sit back and picture … teachers of private schools like MM and LFS joining TG and JHS teachers in zipping around, pretty and smart on Activas and Estilos … and be admired for their Sony Vaios full of e-homework! And, before you know it, there’d be many Pu Zoramthangas in the lecture halls of DMC … for school education directly impacts upon college education, and vice versa.
F: It must be emphasized here that, unless and until the government school more next week (and colleges) are literally born again … there is no point of even mentioning the words quality education!
Also to be recapped, is that the private schools of Manipur function under many constraints that are not conducive to the imparting of good education.
So Anatole’s, ‘change is the very essence of life,’ becomes … only change will bring the very essence of education back in Manipur.
G: The greatest beauty of this sea change would be that … free quality education would once again smile on this land … and the genuine needs of the masses would be gratefully and honourably met. And the bonus would be the end of the elusiveness of the respect and prestige that today’s government teachers complain so much about.
The above sea change ought to, quite logically, lead to the long missing social sanction given to private schools: charge school fees as you provide. Higher fees, higher salaries, better teachers and more of a quality education would become the norm as bars are automatically raised. And, once again, chasing of old dreams of matching the high standards of all-round good education as provided by renown mainland institutions, would become the raison d’etre of the committed private schools.
Note: The fear that many private ventures would be out-and-out commercial enterprises need not be a major concern, nor do they need policing. This is because competition shall close them down as no school can fool students and parents for long.
Given the above, that is how education - in the hands of reborn government schools (and colleges), courtesy the JACs and re-energized managers of private schools (and colleges) – would respond well enough to Manipur’s needs and the times.
Going back a bit … we all know about the failure on the part of the government’s educational institutions, but never paused to think about whether the handful of time-tested private schools could have failed too. One normally never looked beyond morning-fresh faces of children skipping their way happily to (private) schools, and the schools annually holding up the examination performance flag aloft as the sign of all’s well! But ironically this writer’s heart-to-heart talks with many private school managers revealed a sense of loss and a lot of sighing … that they could have done so so much more, and that so so much time had been lost. In fact, all their best years, rued all … with no light at the end of the tunnel. They were pointedly disheartened that the society-that-be was content with –
(a) their wards securing high First Divisions, and
(b) their wards’ schools getting 100% Pass, or a position in the top 25 etc.
Whereas, actually the dreams of these stressed-out and tired managers had been far far more than that … only they seem to have dried up. Yet, when ‘If’ was sounded, this writer could feel the gloom dispelled, the child-like wonder and youth’s fire beginning to glow, once again, behind the tired eyes. Thoughts on bank loans, better buildings, edusat and the internet, book fairs, techno-exhibitions and fairs, student and teacher exchanges, a more competitive spirit, campus recruitments etc. were expressed enthusiastically. He is, thus, very hopeful … nay very sure that, these experienced managers of time-tested private schools, if given the long rope other states and other societies have always let their entrepreneurs have … yes, if given these, Manipur will become, among others, the educational hub of the East. And this is said, knowing fully well, that education is also arts and culture, sports and a host of other things that this once golden land has an enviable potential to offer.
The thing about gold being that it is so precious that millions have lived and died for it, so esteemed is it that a king is crowned with it and yet it is so common some cap their teeth with it or bury and hoard it never to see sunlight for centuries. The beauty is that, come what may, the sheen never really goes away. Hence, ‘Sanaleipak’ has hope.
A hope that shall bury decades of abysmal track record of poor governmental performances and a hundred or so of exceptional private performances … because, when you come to think of it … most of the best tutors of Manipur - to whom the toppers crowd to get tutored – happen to be government school teachers and government college lecturers, if not professors! While we’re on the subject, many of these tutors are the land’s best question setters.
H: This availability of the best tutors in the land brings us to yet another divide!
This additional divide epitomizes what an editorial of TSE, Charge of Rural Schools, says after heaping laurels on the deserving Michael Ts of rural Imphal Valley. It is this writer’s observation that what is lost in the recognition and patting of backs etc. is that, in the matter of quality education – if we can call it such – the hills of Manipur are distinctly disadvantaged. What is worst, not worse, is that there is no end to the tunnel in the hills … and so no light at its end. If you who read this think the allusion to an endless tunnel far-fetched, join this writer on a dark journey.
The good students studying in the hills of Manipur – read that as tribal students – are a discriminated lot as far as science and mathematics are concerned. This means that the best of the best students in the hills can – it seems – never enjoy the services of the land’s best teachers, lecturers and professors … whose tuitions and coaching could make the ultimate difference, between breasting the tape and also ran. This is to thus say that, one of the reasons why Imphal-centric (once again this word ‘centric’ raises its repugnant head) students will always have a double and unfair advantage over their counterparts in hilly Manipur is the absolute non-availability of top quality science and maths tutors in the hills! This raw deal has to go. The hills cannot do that. The valley powers that be have to do it. This, mind you, is over and above the tribal students’ general lack of diligence, as compared to their student-candidate counterparts in and around competition & tuition-hot Imphal.
What this writer is getting at is that if the hill student-candidates could have access to the in-comparable and abundant top of the line tutors, especially in science and mathematics, as are available in and around Imphal, they too would become fair contenders for top slots in all public examinations.
It is in this line of thought that an NIT in the hills could have started helping in tipping the scales in favour of many otherwise good hill students who only needed the best of fine-tuning … by top-notch science and mathematics teachers/ lecturers/ professors. We all know that under the present circumstances such luminaries shall never be available in the hills.
It is in this line of thought that one says well in advance that IF the NIT goes to Tamenglong, the IIT to Ukhrul, the IIM to Churachandpur, the NIIT to Senapati, the IISc to Chandel etc. the hills can lead The Sangai’s charge! But the powers … and people … that be shan’t ever let such things happen. You see, the airport has to be close, the NH-39, the NH-54 and the NH-154 must meet, the RIMS, the Agriculture University and the Zoological Gardens have to be close together; the place has to be ringed by CRP, BSF, IGAR, IRBs, MRs for the security of guest-students from neighbouring states … and so on.
On the other hand, why can’t the powers that be – and the people that be – realize that the actions of their mindset are the very things that fuel highway/economic/lifeline blockades and give rise to other grudges that create the un-necessary, un-becoming and in-numerable divides?
(The above should answer TSE’s wondering about the continued inability of the hill schools to make it into the exclusive club of Manipur’s HSLC’s Top 25).
I.
Solutions? Again?
Actually, given Manipur Hills Education Service* and an NIT* here and an IIT there, in the hills, would be two means of providing level playing fields for student-candidates facing the same public examinations ... because top consultants/tutors would then be available at hill doorsteps! Provision of the above, and a few Boards later, TSE would dash off an edit: ‘Charge of Hill Schools’, and the foundations of a fair new world would have been laid.
(*These two had been suggested in this writer’s earlier articles published in the IFP and TSE).
J.
Just ten (10) suggested measures that could be taken up by the government and its schools (and colleges) to help them turn over a new leaf:-
1. Let’s face it: No one can deny that a big big number of government teachers are no longer able, for some reason or the other, to teach students effectively. So, why can’t the above suggested JACs identify such teachers in their respective areas and put them all in one or two centers viz. some school or college that mapping reveals as un-viable. The idea is that that would free the teaching teachers who could give their all to the JAC-backed fully functioning model schools and colleges. Meaning, all the survey, electoral and statistical works etc. should be the preserve of these teachers relieved from teaching duties. Now, if the JAC-backed schools could be made attractive by staffing them with all the old good and new good teachers they could, actually, give the private schools a run for their money.
2. As for the teachers no longer able to teach well, they could be now re-trained – depending on their aptitude - for some new work or the other, like research assisting, editing, translations, speech writing, accounting, archiving and record keeping, etc., as well as enhancing their considerable experience in statistical surveys, data collection, electoral rolls verification/ enumeration works etc. through exposure to latest ICT means. In fact, the services of the best among them could be engaged by state, regional, national and international organizations for specialized works. The fees for such works could be shared 50/50. (This could even act as a kind of incentive, both for re-learning/re-training for a fresh lease of life and be like the attraction of the VRS, the state government can never afford).
3. Children of government teachers could be encouraged to be enrolled in the schools where they work, if the JAC in consultation deems it fit. (This suggestion is made with a lot of reservations).
4. To make themselves more attractive, government schools could capitalize on courses and activities they can provide, and which private ones tend to rule out as too expensive to accommodate, viz. ensuring a more all round education through use of physical instructors, music and art teachers etc. … just as government schools provided in the old days.
5. A policy of gifting a computer to every first divisioner from a government school could immediately make Manipur’s JAC-backed government schools a most attractive proposition. (Actually, in Assam ALL first divisioners – from government or private school – are given a prize of a computer set each. To maintain standards the computers are supplied through IIT/Guwahati. In 2007 the Assam Government gifted away about thirteen thousand computer sets. Meghalaya gifts its Board toppers a laptop each, among other incentives. In fact, if a first divisioner already has a computer she/he can it in cash! This writer wanted to make this suggestion a year ago but he put it off because he dreaded the bad supply habits of Manipur, and the likelihood of good students studying in private schools but enrolled to appear in the name of government schools!)
6. A student friendly academic calendar and school timing (daily) that does not include all the govt. holidays should be worked out as suggested above with the concurrence of School, parents, teachers and the respective JAC. (The emphasis is not on uniformity).
7. The hitherto reliance on the excess marks above 33 in the 4th subject, so as to improve an individual’s division and overall pass percentage (also the number of I Divisions) should be discarded … to avoid, for instance, this year’s topper securing 604/600!! No doubt, this would lower our Board’s performances even further. But how long can we go on padding? The longer we continue, we are only fooling ourselves longer. Instead, the 4th subject should be for improving a candidate’s chances of passing, and even doing better by counting it if its marks are better. The 4th subject – as in other parts of the country – should be considered only in lieu of one of the other elective subjects. This would achieve about the same purpose, albeit in a smaller way … but it could never lead to the ridiculousness of some toppers securing more than the full marks!
8. All other states of the country, when honouring the best teacher in a state or district, follow the practice set by the National Teacher Awards, viz. they are open to teachers of schools of both the government and private schools (as Ms. Salam of Maria Montessori proved it this year). Inexplicably, it is only in Manipur that the State Teacher Awards are reserved for government teachers! The sooner this award actually becomes state teacher awards, NOT state government teacher awards, the better.
9. Further, the best school awards for the best three schools whose candidates secure the maximum number of Letter Marks (as against the number of toppers or the number of first divisioners) should be instituted. Such awards, again not restricted to government schools only, would motivate many and help raise bars.
10. A system of government and private educational institutions sharing, partnering, co-operating with each other in as many aspects of education as possible … on a state or district level should be worked out. After all, both are doing the same thing. That too with our own children/youth, not aliens!
In short, by taking up the suggestions made, Manipur’s (school and college) education would at last move out of the educational wilderness it has lost itself in … in the last 30-40 years!
K.
If government schools could thus play their part, then the number of private institutions would reduce by half almost overnight. And these private schools could and would, like all over the world, set a scorching pace in raising bars all the time.
The major benefits? Tens of thousands of our young would voluntarily stay back to study in Manipur and countless parents would sleep in peace every night. And, just on account of money orders saved every month, and from cash flowing in from non-state-students enrolled here, there is bound to be an educational, social, cultural and economic boom.
So, it goes without saying that if the government schools (and colleges) already filled with more qualified and regularly trained teachers just did their jobs, the privates would happily do theirs … and much much of the artificially created divides would vanish. And Manipur would gain, nay, win not only on the playground but in the classroom!
Kangla Online
A: IFP’s edit quite rightly said, “The private schools are doing what the government schools are incapable of.” This writer would like to be more direct and say: The private schools are doing the job of the government schools … and Manipur is losing in the bargain. These twisted roles, actually, show us where the crux, the woes and tragedy of Manipur’s failed education lie. They show up not only about the much-maligned education provided by the government schools (and colleges), but even the unhappy side of private institutions (both schools and colleges). Whereas, the truth is all four – government schools and colleges and private schools and colleges - have a most symbiotic relationship. And much like nature’s food chain, if even one of the four goes missing, or is not up to the mark, the chain breaks down … as it has in Manipur. This is in spite of great efforts by some private schools. As for the government the less said the better, although in all fairness, they needn’t be like they are today.
The word failed, to describe the state of education in Manipur, has been deliberately chosen. It is the sum total of the declining enrolment figures, the long years of 30-40% pass percent in Board and Council examinations, with creditable performance restricted to 20/40-odd time-tested private schools, with almost nil performance from government schools, and an ever-increasing exodus of students to other parts of the country. Studying outside the state is not a bad thing in itself, except that the growing numbers is evidence of dis-satisfaction with the education available in the state. And, of course, the huge economic drain that a poor state like ours can ill-afford. In all this, the odd thing is that the pass percent at the degree level – read that as MU results – hovers in the range of 60-70%! That MU enrolment yet declines is also evidence that potential graduates are looking beyond mere passing! Hence, the word failed.
B: Presented below is this writer’s mix of a very generalized and simplified history of school education in Manipur (with college education naturally included), schooling’s many convolutions and the fallout thereof. They read like this:
In the ‘50s and ‘60s there were some standard government schools (and colleges) that could, by any yardstick, have been considered good. Yet around the same time, a growing number of parents who wanted a little more - and a little different - for their children, responded enthusiastically to a few private ventures, like the old Montessori in the heart of the Kangla and the Catholic Mission Schools of Don Bosco (Chingmeirong), Nirmalabas (MG Avenue), and a bit later, Little Flower School (Airport Road). Such parents felt – and quite rightly so – that these mission schools, backed by their world-wide experience were an answer to their prayers. These schools brought in a sparkle and a freshness missing in the growing drabness of government institutions, no matter how good they were in their own time.
And so those were the days when these private school teachers – lowly paid as they were - could be seen on rickshaws with a pile of students’ exercise books taken home for correction. One remembers teachers were judged by the amount of homework they took home. (Imagine that today!) More important, the teacher too took pride in the height of the pile of her/his homework! It is like saying: the more schoolwork a teacher took home, the more the teacher loved her/his job and was respected for it. (This is something that is significantly missing these days). Society saluted them quietly, although, on Teacher’s Day, some government teacher or the other was invariably garlanded and honoured as District and State’s Best Teacher … a practice that more often than not undeservingly continues till date. Not that the privates lose sleep over it. But this writer mentions this just to point out the harm such misplaced honouring does: it announces that merit and hard-work goes un-noticed, un-rewarded and the sweat of private teachers is to be taken for granted.
The seventies confirmed that government institutions were failing to deliver and were actually petering out. The resultant mushrooming of private schools just had to happen. And perforce they had to take up the role of provider of even the very basics ... the basics bidden goodbye to by government institutions.
Now, quite naturally, a society that has always held education in high esteem had now to turn to the private sector. Nothing wrong with that, but the root problem was that where the government had provided free education, the private schools had to charge for it. The universal thumb rule being something like: Pay more and get a better education. A subsequent problem was that the majority of the mushrooming private schools, were more into horizontal growth, and could not cater to the rising aspirations of serious students and their extremely serious parents. So, for a growing number of students and parents, the educational institutions of other states became a more attractive proposition … and thus began an educational diaspora.
The result was that from around the late-70s to early 90s, very slowly but surely, the screws were tightened on the growing but still extremely few reputed private schools. These unfairly called ‘elitist’ schools were pressurized by society to charge low fees so that a larger section of its good-education-starved society could avail of their dedicated services. This situation has not changed for the better, because even 30 years later, the state capital’s best schools continue to charge paltry monthly tuition fees ranging from Rs.150/ - to Rs.300/- only; the government ones are in the pits and anywhere near 40-50 thousand Manipurians are pursuing their studies outside the state!
Here, it must be said that if good education can be got at this real-time low cost of below 300/- per month, it must be grabbed and held onto, as if for dear life. But, if such availability is only possible at the cost of the private teacher getting paid a pittance – as is the case in Manipur - then it calls for wholesale reform. Going by their hard work, their working and service conditions, their performance in terms of – say results in public examinations where, time and again, they have proved their mettle – and their overall lack of security, the private teachers of Manipur desperately, and deservedly, need a fair deal. By asking for more for the private teachers, almost Oliver Twist-like, one is not proposing something strange or unique. Rather, that we are behaving like Mr. Bumble and Co. and doing the opposite is strange and unique, in that we, as a state, unfairly exploit this dedicated and vital work force. What then needs to be done?
C: For putting things in a better perspective, so as to suggest a mini road map to show us what needs to be done, one has to consider that the private schools of Guwahati today charge tuition fees ranging from Rs.400/ - to Rs.2000/- plus, per month (for day-scholars, not boarders)! In brief, they cater to suit every pocket and aspiration. Also, to be noted is that today’s Assam still boasts of many good government schools (and colleges), something most unlike Manipur. Yet, thousands of Assamese opt to study in Assam’s more expensive private schools and colleges. Yet again, many more thousands still go and study outside the state, with some parents willingly forking out over a lakh of rupees per annum in fees only. This is to say that in Assam, and in all parts of the country, where one studies and how much one wants to pay for education is one’s choice. And, why not? Thus it is that, if private attempts at providing quality education are sincerely made, such endeavours should be encouraged and not curbed … even if fees are high … as long as citizens respond appreciatively, teachers are paid well, and the school is constantly upgrading and innovating. Such things don’t come cheap, as every parent whose child studies outside knows too well.
Manipur, thus, must create the environment to allow the same … because the concern here is that education is much more than passing or doing well in examinations, and that Manipur’s private teachers earn too little. Their low pay discourages the attracting of the best and those that get employed lead to a service that amounts to a fair degree of exploitation by a tough master.
Tough master? Surprisingly, the tough master is not always the school authorities. Their hands are more often than not tied. Importantly and incredibly it is society, in general, and the government institutions and their teachers, in particular that are the tough masters!
Surprised? Well, you see, ours is a society that forgives those who ought not to be forgiven, viz. the non-performing government and its and its even less performing teachers (from whom we no longer expect anything). Yet, inexplicably, we come down heavily on private schools and their teachers. By parting with 200/- or so per month, as the school fees for our wards, we expect the moon from the private schools and their teachers. In fact, we will readily complain (as we must!) when homework is not corrected, or this or that has been or not been done. We shall express our unhappiness over a certain teacher, seek change or even dismissal when we find one below our expectations (as we must!).
What, however, is difficult to digest is that this same ‘quality conscious society’ keeps absolutely mum, even respectful, where government teachers are concerned. Or should that be: When government teachers are not concerned!? Why doesn’t, ‘as we must,’ apply to them? Ought not this social error in judgement be corrected? Ought not society tell the government and its teachers firmly, that they have been employed to do a specific job, which is teaching … plus more. And, that there’s no other way but to teach, and teach well. If they do not want to teach, then they have to be made to do so. Or they should leave and give the job to someone willing. If they can’t do their job anymore, or mind very much when a parent comes to make a genuine complaint, or suggestion, then that’s all the more reason to retire and make room for those who want to teach, and not mind being corrected. Mind you, what is said above is not unique. After all, this is happening to private schools and their teachers all the time. It is what keeps them on their toes and makes them improve every now and then. Why then must society spare the government teachers? What hold have they on us that we surrender to their … whatever?! This peculiar situation ushers in the divide between government school and private school products … all to no one’s gain.
D: You see, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Imphal’s low fee structures simply could not create the environment for quality education to continue, trends of which were set in the 60s. In 2007 the situation is worse. These schools were and are still in a Catch-22 situation. To meet their ever-increasing expenses – from salary to repairs to creating new infrastructure etc. without considerably increasing fees - many sacrifices in things that are aids to quality education had, and still have to be made. For instance, the teacher:student ratios went (and still go) for a six; schools had to double, even triple the number of students in each class by opening more and more crowded sections of each class; schools began supplying text books, exercise books, uniforms, badges and ties to supplement their incomes, and as a hedge for futures that got more and more complex, un-predictable and dangerous. As a consequence, quality education that is associated with ideal teacher:student ratios, innovations, training, organized games and other very important co- and extra-curricular activities had to be kissed good-bye. So, two things moved at snail’s pace, viz. the school fees and the salaries of teachers. But the main sufferer, in real terms, was always the school teacher … and slowly but surely the people of the state.
To make ends meet the over-worked private school teacher supplemented incomes through several backbreaking home tuitions, and no wonder, the days of the teacher carrying homework became a thing of the past. Yet the overworked teacher did not complain. She/he knew her/his school’s fee structure and need for increased student strength, and everything else. She/he also knew that crowded classrooms increased the scope for more private tuitions (though saying that is a bit unfair). The main reason, however, which all parties were using to their own advantage, was that jobs were (and are) still terribly scarce. Nonetheless, this important employment, with its package of hard work, low pay and insecurity just cannot attract the best to take up a profession that, actually, needs the best, or, as near to it as possible. What becomes obvious is that salaries have to double or more to attract far better teachers for far better education. Only then can we hope for the impact we so desperately need in today’s Manipur … to prepare our youth for today’s highly competitive world. In the meanwhile Manipur continues to suffer.
But coming back to a sharp and shaming contrast: the opposite was happening on the government front, e.g. teacher:student ratios fell so low they would have been the envy of the most developed of western nations; staff strength doubled or tripled the more the students sought enrolment elsewhere; the teacher’s workload hit rock-bottom while salary soared and, ironically, with more funds allocated in the budget, the infrastructure deteriorated, crumbled all the quicker … and education, as provided by the government, kissed our shores good-bye!
In all this, the surprising thing is that the pressure groups that came into being (certainly not because of education!) turned all their attention, effort and might (not excluding ire) against the private efforts – especially Catholic Mission Schools – while not raising even an eyebrow, or lifting (even a little) finger against the government school (and college) teachers. That this discrimination of letting go the government school and college teacher, not only scot-free but completely un-accountable (that too for decades on end), is beyond this writer’s comprehension. In truth, this lapse on the part of Manipurian society, not only becomes suspect, but, much worse, it has been counter-productive. One has only to look at the hundreds of crores of rupees being pumped outside the state … all for a better education. One has to look at the annual churning out of failed candidates of both BSEM and COHSEM … by their thousands in a land where employment and the climate for employment can be said to be fast drying up.
At this point, attention is drawn to a particularly disappointing and disturbing thing, viz.: Why didn’t a significant number, from so large a number of Ojhas, fail to stand and be counted in stemming the rot that was destroying education? There was time but there were no reformers. This decaying process took several decades … infecting school by school (college by college), neighbourhood by neighbourhood, area by area, region by region … till it engulfed the whole state. Yet, who stood against this cancer that ate the very vitals of a society? Tragically, no one! (Now if the private institutions too suffered the same malaise, there’d be nothing to say. But as they have been keeping the examination performance flag aloft they deserve a respite, whereas there is much too much to say against government personnel). It is, therefore, the view of this writer that for the state and its people to finally get the education it so desperately needs, two things are required:
(a) The government’s educational institutions have to be ‘born again’, to borrow a Christian parlance, by whatever means, and
(b) the private educational institutions have to be given the freedom to go for the stars … an aspiration that does not come cheap. This is to say, that the hitherto reining in of the private schools of Manipur has to go, for the sake of the land’s future!
E : Immediate and long-term solution, a suggestion:-
The past needs to be buried. Past government rules, orders, and policies have not been able to change the government schools (and colleges) and their teaching and non-teaching staff. It is, therefore, time for result-oriented action, and who better to depend upon than the ubiquitous JACs … whose success rate is commendable. It is, therefore, suggested that education-specific JACs be formed.
For every group of government schools and colleges in a particular well-defined area, one JAC should be formed. (Repeat, only one. Please). For instance, if Keisampat has 4 JB Schools, 4JHSs, 2 HSSs and one college, it should have one education specific JAC, e.g. the Keisampat New Education JAC/KNE-JAC. Such well-directed bodies would have to work on two remedial measures, viz. immediate remedial measures and long-term remedial measures. For the immediate remedial measures, they would need to use their considerable persuasive powers to ensure that, from day one of formation, a new chapter begins. How? Well, from Day-1:
(i) The JACs have to ensure that every teacher and student is present every day in their respective institutions, and stay in the campus for a minimum of six (6) hours every working day.
(ii) The JACs have to ensure that each and every class is taken and attended to.
(iii) The JAC should work out a minimum of 200 working days in consultation with teachers, the respective PTAs and student representatives of their well-defined areas. (This can be achieved by sacrificing some government listed holidays … knowing that teachers come under vacation department, and so can forego many listed holidays for the sake of students and the future of the land).
(iv)
If, for starters, these three simple steps (for which no new government orders to please the Governor are required) can be part of Manipurian life again, they alone would bring the proverbial sea change. This change would answer, at the minimum, fifteen lakh students’ and parents’ prayers! Imagine … 15 lakh showers of blessing and gratitude falling upon teachers! And the JACs! What more can one ask for in life? The only cost would be: some JAC members have to be on duty, by rotation, in each school/college under their influence for a stretch of 6 months to a year. After which the work culture would be like it was in the 50s and 60s.
For the long-term remedial measures, the JACs should slowly, surely and methodically look into the functioning of government schools and colleges of their area, and work to resolve the many difficulties and sticky issues that would certainly come up. But, in 6 months’ time, the JACs would be resourceful and resolute enough - as a directly affected stakeholder - to sort things out. Then and only then would Michael Ts become a dime a dozen, and the JACs do the land a service for which generations would remember and be grateful for. Then soon, very soon, one can sit back and picture … teachers of private schools like MM and LFS joining TG and JHS teachers in zipping around, pretty and smart on Activas and Estilos … and be admired for their Sony Vaios full of e-homework! And, before you know it, there’d be many Pu Zoramthangas in the lecture halls of DMC … for school education directly impacts upon college education, and vice versa.
F: It must be emphasized here that, unless and until the government school more next week (and colleges) are literally born again … there is no point of even mentioning the words quality education!
Also to be recapped, is that the private schools of Manipur function under many constraints that are not conducive to the imparting of good education.
So Anatole’s, ‘change is the very essence of life,’ becomes … only change will bring the very essence of education back in Manipur.
G: The greatest beauty of this sea change would be that … free quality education would once again smile on this land … and the genuine needs of the masses would be gratefully and honourably met. And the bonus would be the end of the elusiveness of the respect and prestige that today’s government teachers complain so much about.
The above sea change ought to, quite logically, lead to the long missing social sanction given to private schools: charge school fees as you provide. Higher fees, higher salaries, better teachers and more of a quality education would become the norm as bars are automatically raised. And, once again, chasing of old dreams of matching the high standards of all-round good education as provided by renown mainland institutions, would become the raison d’etre of the committed private schools.
Note: The fear that many private ventures would be out-and-out commercial enterprises need not be a major concern, nor do they need policing. This is because competition shall close them down as no school can fool students and parents for long.
Given the above, that is how education - in the hands of reborn government schools (and colleges), courtesy the JACs and re-energized managers of private schools (and colleges) – would respond well enough to Manipur’s needs and the times.
Going back a bit … we all know about the failure on the part of the government’s educational institutions, but never paused to think about whether the handful of time-tested private schools could have failed too. One normally never looked beyond morning-fresh faces of children skipping their way happily to (private) schools, and the schools annually holding up the examination performance flag aloft as the sign of all’s well! But ironically this writer’s heart-to-heart talks with many private school managers revealed a sense of loss and a lot of sighing … that they could have done so so much more, and that so so much time had been lost. In fact, all their best years, rued all … with no light at the end of the tunnel. They were pointedly disheartened that the society-that-be was content with –
(a) their wards securing high First Divisions, and
(b) their wards’ schools getting 100% Pass, or a position in the top 25 etc.
Whereas, actually the dreams of these stressed-out and tired managers had been far far more than that … only they seem to have dried up. Yet, when ‘If’ was sounded, this writer could feel the gloom dispelled, the child-like wonder and youth’s fire beginning to glow, once again, behind the tired eyes. Thoughts on bank loans, better buildings, edusat and the internet, book fairs, techno-exhibitions and fairs, student and teacher exchanges, a more competitive spirit, campus recruitments etc. were expressed enthusiastically. He is, thus, very hopeful … nay very sure that, these experienced managers of time-tested private schools, if given the long rope other states and other societies have always let their entrepreneurs have … yes, if given these, Manipur will become, among others, the educational hub of the East. And this is said, knowing fully well, that education is also arts and culture, sports and a host of other things that this once golden land has an enviable potential to offer.
The thing about gold being that it is so precious that millions have lived and died for it, so esteemed is it that a king is crowned with it and yet it is so common some cap their teeth with it or bury and hoard it never to see sunlight for centuries. The beauty is that, come what may, the sheen never really goes away. Hence, ‘Sanaleipak’ has hope.
A hope that shall bury decades of abysmal track record of poor governmental performances and a hundred or so of exceptional private performances … because, when you come to think of it … most of the best tutors of Manipur - to whom the toppers crowd to get tutored – happen to be government school teachers and government college lecturers, if not professors! While we’re on the subject, many of these tutors are the land’s best question setters.
H: This availability of the best tutors in the land brings us to yet another divide!
This additional divide epitomizes what an editorial of TSE, Charge of Rural Schools, says after heaping laurels on the deserving Michael Ts of rural Imphal Valley. It is this writer’s observation that what is lost in the recognition and patting of backs etc. is that, in the matter of quality education – if we can call it such – the hills of Manipur are distinctly disadvantaged. What is worst, not worse, is that there is no end to the tunnel in the hills … and so no light at its end. If you who read this think the allusion to an endless tunnel far-fetched, join this writer on a dark journey.
The good students studying in the hills of Manipur – read that as tribal students – are a discriminated lot as far as science and mathematics are concerned. This means that the best of the best students in the hills can – it seems – never enjoy the services of the land’s best teachers, lecturers and professors … whose tuitions and coaching could make the ultimate difference, between breasting the tape and also ran. This is to thus say that, one of the reasons why Imphal-centric (once again this word ‘centric’ raises its repugnant head) students will always have a double and unfair advantage over their counterparts in hilly Manipur is the absolute non-availability of top quality science and maths tutors in the hills! This raw deal has to go. The hills cannot do that. The valley powers that be have to do it. This, mind you, is over and above the tribal students’ general lack of diligence, as compared to their student-candidate counterparts in and around competition & tuition-hot Imphal.
What this writer is getting at is that if the hill student-candidates could have access to the in-comparable and abundant top of the line tutors, especially in science and mathematics, as are available in and around Imphal, they too would become fair contenders for top slots in all public examinations.
It is in this line of thought that an NIT in the hills could have started helping in tipping the scales in favour of many otherwise good hill students who only needed the best of fine-tuning … by top-notch science and mathematics teachers/ lecturers/ professors. We all know that under the present circumstances such luminaries shall never be available in the hills.
It is in this line of thought that one says well in advance that IF the NIT goes to Tamenglong, the IIT to Ukhrul, the IIM to Churachandpur, the NIIT to Senapati, the IISc to Chandel etc. the hills can lead The Sangai’s charge! But the powers … and people … that be shan’t ever let such things happen. You see, the airport has to be close, the NH-39, the NH-54 and the NH-154 must meet, the RIMS, the Agriculture University and the Zoological Gardens have to be close together; the place has to be ringed by CRP, BSF, IGAR, IRBs, MRs for the security of guest-students from neighbouring states … and so on.
On the other hand, why can’t the powers that be – and the people that be – realize that the actions of their mindset are the very things that fuel highway/economic/lifeline blockades and give rise to other grudges that create the un-necessary, un-becoming and in-numerable divides?
(The above should answer TSE’s wondering about the continued inability of the hill schools to make it into the exclusive club of Manipur’s HSLC’s Top 25).
I.
Solutions? Again?
Actually, given Manipur Hills Education Service* and an NIT* here and an IIT there, in the hills, would be two means of providing level playing fields for student-candidates facing the same public examinations ... because top consultants/tutors would then be available at hill doorsteps! Provision of the above, and a few Boards later, TSE would dash off an edit: ‘Charge of Hill Schools’, and the foundations of a fair new world would have been laid.
(*These two had been suggested in this writer’s earlier articles published in the IFP and TSE).
J.
Just ten (10) suggested measures that could be taken up by the government and its schools (and colleges) to help them turn over a new leaf:-
1. Let’s face it: No one can deny that a big big number of government teachers are no longer able, for some reason or the other, to teach students effectively. So, why can’t the above suggested JACs identify such teachers in their respective areas and put them all in one or two centers viz. some school or college that mapping reveals as un-viable. The idea is that that would free the teaching teachers who could give their all to the JAC-backed fully functioning model schools and colleges. Meaning, all the survey, electoral and statistical works etc. should be the preserve of these teachers relieved from teaching duties. Now, if the JAC-backed schools could be made attractive by staffing them with all the old good and new good teachers they could, actually, give the private schools a run for their money.
2. As for the teachers no longer able to teach well, they could be now re-trained – depending on their aptitude - for some new work or the other, like research assisting, editing, translations, speech writing, accounting, archiving and record keeping, etc., as well as enhancing their considerable experience in statistical surveys, data collection, electoral rolls verification/ enumeration works etc. through exposure to latest ICT means. In fact, the services of the best among them could be engaged by state, regional, national and international organizations for specialized works. The fees for such works could be shared 50/50. (This could even act as a kind of incentive, both for re-learning/re-training for a fresh lease of life and be like the attraction of the VRS, the state government can never afford).
3. Children of government teachers could be encouraged to be enrolled in the schools where they work, if the JAC in consultation deems it fit. (This suggestion is made with a lot of reservations).
4. To make themselves more attractive, government schools could capitalize on courses and activities they can provide, and which private ones tend to rule out as too expensive to accommodate, viz. ensuring a more all round education through use of physical instructors, music and art teachers etc. … just as government schools provided in the old days.
5. A policy of gifting a computer to every first divisioner from a government school could immediately make Manipur’s JAC-backed government schools a most attractive proposition. (Actually, in Assam ALL first divisioners – from government or private school – are given a prize of a computer set each. To maintain standards the computers are supplied through IIT/Guwahati. In 2007 the Assam Government gifted away about thirteen thousand computer sets. Meghalaya gifts its Board toppers a laptop each, among other incentives. In fact, if a first divisioner already has a computer she/he can it in cash! This writer wanted to make this suggestion a year ago but he put it off because he dreaded the bad supply habits of Manipur, and the likelihood of good students studying in private schools but enrolled to appear in the name of government schools!)
6. A student friendly academic calendar and school timing (daily) that does not include all the govt. holidays should be worked out as suggested above with the concurrence of School, parents, teachers and the respective JAC. (The emphasis is not on uniformity).
7. The hitherto reliance on the excess marks above 33 in the 4th subject, so as to improve an individual’s division and overall pass percentage (also the number of I Divisions) should be discarded … to avoid, for instance, this year’s topper securing 604/600!! No doubt, this would lower our Board’s performances even further. But how long can we go on padding? The longer we continue, we are only fooling ourselves longer. Instead, the 4th subject should be for improving a candidate’s chances of passing, and even doing better by counting it if its marks are better. The 4th subject – as in other parts of the country – should be considered only in lieu of one of the other elective subjects. This would achieve about the same purpose, albeit in a smaller way … but it could never lead to the ridiculousness of some toppers securing more than the full marks!
8. All other states of the country, when honouring the best teacher in a state or district, follow the practice set by the National Teacher Awards, viz. they are open to teachers of schools of both the government and private schools (as Ms. Salam of Maria Montessori proved it this year). Inexplicably, it is only in Manipur that the State Teacher Awards are reserved for government teachers! The sooner this award actually becomes state teacher awards, NOT state government teacher awards, the better.
9. Further, the best school awards for the best three schools whose candidates secure the maximum number of Letter Marks (as against the number of toppers or the number of first divisioners) should be instituted. Such awards, again not restricted to government schools only, would motivate many and help raise bars.
10. A system of government and private educational institutions sharing, partnering, co-operating with each other in as many aspects of education as possible … on a state or district level should be worked out. After all, both are doing the same thing. That too with our own children/youth, not aliens!
In short, by taking up the suggestions made, Manipur’s (school and college) education would at last move out of the educational wilderness it has lost itself in … in the last 30-40 years!
K.
If government schools could thus play their part, then the number of private institutions would reduce by half almost overnight. And these private schools could and would, like all over the world, set a scorching pace in raising bars all the time.
The major benefits? Tens of thousands of our young would voluntarily stay back to study in Manipur and countless parents would sleep in peace every night. And, just on account of money orders saved every month, and from cash flowing in from non-state-students enrolled here, there is bound to be an educational, social, cultural and economic boom.
So, it goes without saying that if the government schools (and colleges) already filled with more qualified and regularly trained teachers just did their jobs, the privates would happily do theirs … and much much of the artificially created divides would vanish. And Manipur would gain, nay, win not only on the playground but in the classroom!
Kangla Online
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