Education in the hill districts -II (December 16)
By Khayi Philawon

Besides these Government colleges, there are many private colleges. Some of these private colleges could not run well due to lack of students. The Sates like Meghalaya, Nagaland and others have few Government colleges (as compared to Manipur) and a lot of private colleges which means that the Government will have to spend less for paying the salaries of both the teaching and non - teaching staffs. Therefore, they can spend more for any other development. 

In the same case many schools were established for which the Government will have to spend a huge amount of money. And since there are many colleges of the Government, which are very low in standard, the private institutions could not function well. Whereas in other States, since there are less Government institutions, people will have to go to the private institutions. Thus the private institutions could run very well maintain a high standard. And since the responsibility of education was mostly taken by the private enterprises, the Government can work for the development of other areas. Therefore, they are more developed than Manipur.

Therefore, the Government of Manipur needs to look into the educational policy of the State. 

Suggestions for solving the problems:

The school may inspectors should perform their duty well, so that the school may improve to some extent if they are given timely advice and inform the condition of the school regularly to the zonal office. The zonal education officer should check whether the inspectors and assistant inspectors are inspecting regularly in their respective areas. He should also keep the report of the inspectors and look into it for the improvement of the schools in the rural areas also. If possible, schools, which cannot run well, should be amalgamated to those neighboring schools that could function well.

The communication in the Tribal areas are very bad as we have discussed in the previous page this case should be taken seriously because good communication is the way to development - economically, socially and educationally. The people should be made aware of the importance of good transportation, as it is the only means of communication; there is neither waterway nor railway route. Therefore, taking an initiative part by the people. Aids, of attention and encouragement of the Government are needed in order that the local people may try to improve themselves.

In order to improve the socio - economic condition of the people of the State, the local handicrafts like bamboo work, blacksmith, weaving, pottery, woodcarving etc. should be given some encouragement. The Government should also give some encouragement to local farmers like agriculture, piggery, poultry, dairying etc. In the present condition, many educated youths remained unemployed. The Government officers have limited capacities of employment. Therefore, if such farming and handicrafts are not encouraged the people would be more and more out of work. And when they nothing to do and are discontent, the problem of youth unrest is worsened. 

The youths began to go against the Government by forming some organization either underground or overground. At present Manipur is facing the same problem where all the communities have their own underground organizations coupled with many factions for each group. There is also often an ethnic clash among the ethnic group. For these problems we cannot blame to the youths alone. But in fact it is caused due to he failure of the Government policy that the youths of various groups have become discontent. As a result there were chaos in the State now and then.

Another measure is that the local organizations should be encouraged to organize seminars often at their localities along with the schoolteachers and discuss about the regularity of the teachers and other problems. This will help he teachers aware of the importance of their regularity in the class.

Also the local organizers should put forward their problems to the officer concerned in the directorate for the immediate consideration e.g. lack of teachers for the subjects like Science, Maths., etc. The local organizers should take part to expose their problems and put forward the necessary demands.

The local student body should also often organize some seminars in which the people should be made known for changing the concept of Mathematics and Science as not very difficult subjects which they consider as very difficult and out of their reach. Therefore, it is necessary that the people be made known and encouraged to offer such subjects in near future for the next generation.

Last but not the least importance thing is that local intellectuals should frequently need to organize seminars at all the Tribal inhabited areas and make the people realize the danger of felling down the trees and also the burning of the field without any reason just to look it clean. They did not know the consequences. Therefore the young local intellectuals should make them under stand by telling them that cutting the trees and burning the fields would lead them to live a hard live in near future.

In conclusion we can sum up that the above-mentioned problems can be solved so that the people would come up to some expectation. In fact, the Government had taken up several steps for the upliftment of these people who live under poverty line. Therefore re - consideration is required.

(Concluded)

(The writer is a lecturer of the DM College of Arts, Imphal)

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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