Thursday, October 25, 2007

Education Perestroika A Must

By : Sapam Nandiker 10/25/2007 1:28:42 AM

To make a building strong and standing the foundation have to be good. Likewise, for a nation or a state to be strong and standing the foundation i.e. the people have to be good. For a good foundation education is needed. It is democratic form of Government we are having. Here majority forms the government. If we want a good government it is a requisite to educate each and every citizen education will not make each of us a leader but it will certainly able us to choose good leaders. It is decades we are not able to choose good leaders. Here education which can able us to judge correctly and take action accordingly is a failure. To Bring quality education under duress, protest, creating fear by guns and bombs might help correct the fraudulence in education department and students morale but, making the students educated is another thing. “Parents” active role is needed to make his son (s) and daughter (s) educated. For each an every future pillar to be educated we need to ease the financial burden of poor parents. We can solve this problem only when the government schools are good. For the schools to be good we need education perestroika. Different sores must have different salves. A law would be made that all son (s) and daughter (s) of government employees, without exception, must study only at government schools within a time frame, and the school he or she (student) have to study should be nearest from where he or she resides. If their son (s) and daughter (s) studies at government schools they would definitely make every effort to make the school up to the standard as their previous one. The state is giving their need, so it would be extreme short-sightedness to make it crumble. When former USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev introduce perestroika to save the crumbling nation, many were against it. They were conditioned to communism. They thought it (perestroika) would never work. What perestroika introduced is some sort of private ownership. For example, when farming equipments used by farmers such as tractors were owned by the government the farmers didn’t care about getting it spoilt from misuse. If it’s “owned” by the farmers themselves, they would take extreme care not to get it spoilt, while producing the same amount of grain. Perestroika was a success. It revived USSR.

“Ornamentations” like, to fine government schools that can’t produce even a single student, to receive successful students in the board held exam and other things won’t solve the problem. What we need is to remodel the system. However to make the government employees send their son (s) and daughter (s) to government schools from the enactment of the law will be unproductive. There should be a time frame to make the schools better before the studying in the schools starts. In this time those private schools who like to change into government schools who like to change into government schools must improve to the standard the government directs. Sometimes back there was an MLA who established a number of schools probably for political reason. When his political rivals and neighbours started talking that he didn’t let any of his son and daughter (s) study in any of the schools he established. He took out his daughter from Manipur Public School, Koirengei, and let her study in one of the school he established. The good grade student turned a poor grade student as the infrastructure, teaching style, environment etc. was not up to the standard.

To make it compulsory for the students to study only in this state, it is not right. We will be doing great injustice to those who are destined to be great men and bring development to this society. The question is who do we send? The best option is to make the extraordinary students eligible to go outside this state and pursue their dreams. We should know only about a mee 5 pc can get the usefullness of studying outside. If the education infrastructure in this state is good there would be no need to go outside this state for studies: thus saving crores of rupees. We can make use of this enormous amount of money for betterment of education.

It is time we know the importance of education in its true sense. It can cure violence, it is the only vaccine against HIV/AIDS, it can help us to a great extent rebuild our morale, it is the cure for the problems this state is facing. “Our progress as a nation is no swifter than our progress in education” --- JF Kenedy.

This lateral thinking can only come to life and bring benefit to this state if it is only liven by the thing-tanks through discussion, brainstorming etc. this state needs an education perestroika at all cost. It is the panacea. We need the change. Wise men change, fools never. Or is it that the politicians think it is advantageous to keep the people ignorant and poor (not necessarily only in financial matters) so they can be manipulated easily.

The main hurdle in bringing quality education for all is changing the mind-set of “the people who matters”. As far as I know not a single son or daughter of the people who maters study in government schools. (We can’t blame them because almost all government schools lacks in everything). They won’t touch these schools with a long pole. What we should know is this state is failing in every thing and death is not far if we don’t change. Those functions speech even “struggle” is just “ornamentations”. A theory which can’t help us in bringing education in all these decades is not worth following. We need education perestroika. One thing more “expensive” than education is ignorance. The cost for bringing education might be enormous but the prize will be remembered forever.

If the education department become “something personal” we will stand for its welfare. If we the people unite no outside force like unlawful organisation can even harm it nor extort.


Source: The Imphal Free Press

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