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There is now an
ongoing move by a few protagonists that the
schools in some hill areas of the State
should go for syllabi of a board of
education based outside the State. Since
this has strong implications for development
and justice of these areas themselves, I
strongly feel that the move should not go
un-debated. We all have a collective as well
as individual responsibility to the future
citizens of our region, and in fact, to all
the future citizens anywhere in the world.
Why Education:
Before we debate on the call for switching
of boards (well, school boards are very
different from power switch-boards), we may
briefly recall why so much importance is
being attached to the role of education
throughout the globe. This would also
explain why every effort is made by both
state and non-state agencies everywhere in
the world to spare education from the
possible disturbances caused by political
mobilizations.
To appreciate the significance of education
in a society, we need not go into the
contemporary attempts by societies to
establish foundations for a knowledge
economy. Besides this latest value, it has
got strong traditional values.
First, education is the surest and best
means for both individuals and groups to
escape out of poverty. Secondly, education
is the only effective means for establishing
a more equal society. It is because of these
developmental and equity implications of
education that the sanctity of it is
respected round the globe. In any case,
education has values neutral to space, time
and community.
The Context:
The context in which recent moves are being
made for switching of school boards in some
hill areas of the State has nothing to do
with education. It all comes in a context
wherein it is being proposed as a means to
sharpen the political mobilization, and has
nothing to do with strengthening the
educational scenario in these areas. Well,
in history we do find instances of education
being focus-ed and used as a planned move to
strengthen the developmental and
intellectual base of a society in the
future. But we are yet to find an instance
wherein interventions in it are being sought
to serve purely on political ends and
without having any inherent educational
component in it.
To appreciate the move better, let us
compare it with two other contemporary and
experienced scenarios. In India now there
are new schools emerging based on the
curriculum of the International
Baccalaureate Organization based in Geneva.
This is understandable and a positive move
as well because the IBO curriculum is
internationally respected as a highly
effective one for meaningful and purposeful
education. Secondly, it goes without saying
that the student population in the valley of
Manipur has hardly ever had a smooth and
stable relationship with their peers in the
mainland of India.
They all have
undergone the displeasure of many kinds, but
these have not deterred them from
concentrating on the basic purpose of
education. They have never allowed the
unpleasant relationship to turn into hatred,
but rather they have taken this as a boost
for competition in the arena of education
itself.
As a result we now find the scientific and
technological base of the valley population
fairly strong. In fact, many boys and girls
from the valley area are now getting jobs in
the most competitive areas of the world like
North America and Western Europe in fields
as modern as computer engineering.
The Move:
But the current move for adopting the
syllabi of a neighboring State in part of
the hill areas is founded on purely
political reasons and would not stand the
communities themselves in good stead.
First, at least in the filed of education,
the neighboring State is not known for
greater competitiveness than Manipur. It
would have been great and understandable if
the move had been for adoption of
competitive syllabi, like that of the
Central Board of Secondary Education or the
Cambridge or the IBO. If it were so it would
have been saved from the partisan and myopic
look the move gives out.
Secondly, unfortunately for Manipur, it is a
fact that the valley has got a much stronger
educational, scientific and technological
base than the hills. In fact, the valley
strength is enviable. But we should not be
converting this envy into hatred. We should
rather be concentrating on ways of
establishing a more competitive educational
base in the hill areas rather than using
education to serve transitory political
ends.
The Upshot:
In the end I would like to argue that the
interests of a competitive education should
not be sacrificed at the altar of political
movements. The ingenuity of every group
should be called upon to evolve political
means for achieving political ends, but
never by interfering with the known norms of
education. The latter approach would not
serve any developmental or equity cause, but
what is a political movement if educational
interests are compromised. We should not be
fighting like Kilkenny cats. |
