Education in the hill districts (December 9)- PART I
By Khayi Philawon

India being a welfare State, could hardly ignore the development of a certain State, could hardly ignore the development of certain sub-sections of the society. It is also imperative for a balanced development of the society that all the subgroups are raised to a minimum level of living standard. It is in this perspective that these tribal groups had been identified and designated as scheduled tribes in the Indian Constitution, making way for special provisions for their socio-economic upliftment. 

Provisions for special cultural education facilities had rightly been considered as crucial element. Accordingly, a variety of special program in the field of education had been initiated to enable the tribals to effectively overcome the barriers in the process of modernization.

Planning and organizing such program to the meaningful and effective, be intrinsically related to the life style and stage of development of a particular tribal group. This demands a deeper understanding of the individual tribal groups and their diverse life styles. It was well recognized that certain groups are lagging behind considerably in adapting to the modern standard of living with or without traditional values and practices for varied reasons, which interlinked themselves. 

Tribal groups were mainly distinguished from others in terms of their socio-cultural practices and level of economic position. Among other problems the major problems pertaining to the tribals must be discussed. The Tangkhuls had many problems, which hinder education in its progress because of which the Tangkhul students cannot compete with others. 

The problems of the Tangkhul can be categorized as under:

Supervision and Inspection:
Inspection was a co-operative endeavor in which all the teachers participate and where the inspectors are the educational leaders who act as a simulator, guide and consultants in their efforts to improve instructions, not as a critics or dictator. Therefore to inspect the schools regularly is a must without which will be deteriorated. But inspite of its importance in Ukhrul district the schools were very rarely inspected. In some case they were never inspected especially in those areas where there are no bus services. Therefore the result in matriculation examination in most of the schools was very bad.

Bad Communication:
In most of the Tribal inhabited areas the road communication is one of the biggest problem. Not even jeepable roads were found in some areas. In this condition, it is very difficult for the students who do not have schools at their villages as they have to walk a long distance. Not only the students, even the teachers from outside would not like to be posted, as they could not bring
their necessity due to the absence of transportation, also in the locality all the necessity were not available. As a result the teachers are always absent. Not only the transportation problem but also the telecommunication is also half dead. It works only once a week in Ukhrul.

Socio-economic condition:
Majority of the Tangkhuls live below poverty line, their socio-economic status was very low. The parents could send their children to school while working in the field. Children were to help their parents either in the field or to look after the household works while the parents were in the field. Consequently most of the students either drop out or break study during plantation period, which was followed by wastage and stagnation.

Teachers' attendance:
The teachers were found absent very often especially those who were not from the locality because of bad communication and other problems. Even the local teachers are found absent often as they are not giving interest to their work which is a great mistake, as it is spoiling the interest of the students to learn is killed. They lose their interest to study together.

Language Problem:
The problem of medium of instruction is one of the biggest problems found among the Tangkhuls. The Tangkhuls themselves had many dialects which they do not understand each other. The common language of the Tangkhul was also not known when the people were still young. On the top of that the teachers in these schools especially in the subjects like Maths, Science, Manipuri and Hindi were often Meitei or Mayangs. Therefore students do not understand the basic concept of what are being taught because of the language problems. So from the beginning the concepts were not clear they do not take interest in it. Whereas in the case of Meitei students they were taught in their mother tongue which make them clear from the beginning. Therefore they get an advantage in their study.

Lack of infrastructure:
Lack of minimum tolerable school buildings is one of the biggest problems. There were many schools, which have no buildings. In some schools though they have buildings they do not have furniture like benches, desks, tables, almirah, etc. Teaching aids were not given sufficiently.

Lack of co-curricular activities:
Teaching alone is not enough for the students to gain knowledge but to have co-curricular activities is very important. The students should be taken for sight seeing, picnic and study tour. They must also be allowed to have sports, debate, painting competitions etc in the school. All these facilities have not been made available at most of the schools in Ukhrul district.

Lack of teachers in Science, Manipuri and Hindi:
Local teachers were not found for Science, Maths, Manipuri and Hindi. Therefore, non-local teachers are to be posted. But, these teachers were also unwilling to accept such postings due to the bad communication. They usually pay bribe to the Ministers and officers concerned to get them posted in town areas. Thus, the teachers of these subjects hardly stayed in the hill areas. Consequently the students are weak in these subjects.

Weak in Science, Maths:
The Tangkhul Naga people in particular are very weak in Science and Mathematics. There were not much students of these subjects. The cause of this weakness was that the Tangkhuls had a misconception that Mathematics and Science subjects are very tough that they will not be able to offer such subjects.

This concept was already there when they first start learning about these subjects. Let us remember the proverb; "If there is a will, there is a way". This conception of very tough subjects had already murdered the 'will' of the students from the beginning, so when they grow up there was no 'way' for the students to the study these subjects.

Another cause of these subjects is the language in which they study the basic concepts of mathematics and Science subjects was not clear when they first began to learn these subjects. Due to the language problem, the teachers also do not speak their local dialects but Manipuri, Hindi or English. Another cause was that as the local teachers were not available for their subjects the non-local teachers will have to be posted. But due to non-availability of necessities and inconveniences of bus services the teachers do not come. So there are no teachers of these reasons the Tangkhuls are very weak in these subjects.

(to be contd)

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

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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