Enlightening Teachers through Sports and Culture seems highly desirous now
- Part 1 -

Dr. Gunadhor S Okram *

Thang Ta (Manipuri Indigenous Martial Art) Induction Programme by KIMACS :: Pix - Shasi Mutum

Law and order situation look to be the sole reason for failing education and administration in Manipur. This however is not affected to our world-renowned excellence in sports and culture at all. Is it not then a good social issue to take up by the whole population something like June 18, 2001 uprising? There should be no dearth of being spent energy for us Manipuris for using it for development through self-realization.

In this regard, shall we not carefully analyze and understand the scenario of what are presently happening in these key areas, and their consequent bleak future to our society that in turn is maligning our hard-earned reputations of a few shinning stars in sports and culture, and its impressions outside, and yet probable solutions? (Alas, one cannot teach others but self-realization can!)

Very recently, my daughter of ninth standard received my mobile when a call came. She gave me the phone as she doesn't know to speak in Manipuri. When I got in the mobile, it happens to be a call from one of my nephews from Nong-ang-khong, Thoubal. In fact, the call should have been a miss-call because he did not intend to call me up. So, he tried to conceal himself from me. But I could recognize him and we started talking about his twelveth class exam result and others on this, at a time at which all parents and their children alike are in very hectic and anxious moments as to what next: which course, which subject, which branch, which line, which stream, where and so on.

The word 'where' is extremely important now-a-days for Manipur. This is not inside of Manipur but outside. Manipur is not counted as a place to do or pursue higher study, a place meant mostly up to twelveth standard. This to a reasonable Manipuri should be cynical, but has been made cent percent true. Then, why should one not worry about this very important facet of life in modern age.

This wave of studying outside has in fact been like 'student tornado' for whom exam is passed but do not know where to go for it, much different from Delhi students or similar students elsewhere. Almost everybody in this category of parents and their children is so tense, and restless to find the nearly best place and college using all modern electronic gadgets in no time! But who created this?

My nephew told me that he got 71% marks ONLY, which is nowhere and is almost like fail in his region around. I confirmed this to be correct as told by a lecturer of Manipur College and many others. Furthermore, I understood that council of higher secondary education, Manipur and board of secondary education, Manipur have decided to provide marks leniently in these board exams so that their students do not face humiliation due to low marks they obtain, as had been the case a few years back while seeking admission elsewhere (read outside of Manipur).

In this, I beg to ask this: Shall our students beg to seek admission in places outside of Manipur FOREVER WITHOUT EVER THINKING OUR OWN DIGNITY AS TO WHO WILL THINK OF US AS A HUMAN BEING? Don't we have talents ever to our teachers after they have been getting training on this from outside for the last one century or so? Many feel emphatically that "Yes, we have." If it is yes, then why is it happening so? Let us see our infrastructure, talent provider, dutifulness, interactions between teachers and parents and policy makers, as a dignified human being. Why not we rethink about what we are allowing proceeding in an uncontrolled way, which may not be liked in an individual level?

Instead, everybody is following the gang-way: WHETHER IT IS RIGHT OR WRONG AS NO HOPE IS HERE. Then, why were we born here? Why don't we think very seriously on this as an individual if it does it below his dignity? This too with lots of heavy cost the parents or the guardian have to bear out or also sending their wards to other states without much feeling of a shame.

Let us look at this. A parent or a guardian requires sending approximately Rs 8000-20,000 per month for a student. With this conservative estimate for about 20,000 students studying outside, the parents of all hues send or spill a whopping Rs 192-480 crores annually outside. What for they are sending: just to disappoint themselves that about 2,000 students only (10%) might get job with a leniently estimated salary of Rs 30,000 to 50,000? This means that they earn about Rs 70-120 cores annually without any returning this money to Manipur. Why?

Out of this, a minor fraction might work in Manipur and those large fractions working outside might send a meager amount that amounts to saying that the gross earning of Manipur may be estimated to be around Rs 20-30 crores. Who will fill the gap of Rs 172-450 crores (after deducting Rs 20-30 crores from Rs 192-240 crores) annually? What a great we have?

Now, why not we think as if we are in one family? If we go like this continuously, we shall be bankrupt more and more and finally no longer Manipur exists or MANIPUR WILL BECOME TRUE BEGGAR. This is what everybody likes, then! Otherwise, should we think that there are no Manipuris in Manipur? In this sense, this is virtually so. How?

We hardly have a few hundred crores of our state earning, say from electricity bill, land and house tax and other taxes, which constitute hardly 10% of our whole budget. The rest 90% of say Rs 3,650 crores (2012-13) is from the developed states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, etc through central government in the name of central assistance. In this sense also, we survive presently as a beggar.

The Manipur Government uses this for salaries of its employees, infrastructural development, central scheme projects etc. This means that we are surviving with the help of other developed brethren states. Many of our employees here are seemingly taking salaries without ever thinking as to what they have done for their salary or for his people of Manipur. This makes our lives existent or allowing our blood flow properly using brethren developed states' help, wherein in fact we are spilling our hard-begged money through the central government.

Is this dignified or justified? Why should we create like this, none other than ourselves? Are we not human beings, unable to compete others like any other humans in terms of our own survival and respectful existence? This however is so if one claims that we have among the best brains and talents in sports, culture, literature, art and craft trained in Manipur ONLY.

One might argue that this hard-earned image, of seemingly not so respectable profession but it actually is, is being maligned due to recklessness of the employees including contractors in general and teachers in particular of the government even though education seems to be some of the best respectable profession one normally assumes.

To be continued....