Need for continued felicitation of the non-toppers

Seram Neken *

In what could be termed as an effective step towards producing successful students a social activist who runs a Gym from Khuyathong donated a sum of Rupees 3000 to unsuccessful candidates of the matriculation exam 2012 conducted by BSEM on on July 30 2012 :: Pix - RK Vishorjit - Animal Gym

Politicians, local leaders and voluntary organizations have now come out to felicitate brilliant students for their high ranking achievements. While felicitating toppers of various examinations, we should not forget to congratulate and encourage the non-toppers who occupy majority of youths of the state. It is worth remembering that mediocre students need to be constantly motivated in order to fit them for suitable careers. Meanwhile, toppers are not the only students who deserve to be encouraged and examinations are not the only criteria to judge the merit of students.

As human beings take calories of food to build muscles and bones for the body, education serves as the food for the mind. It enables one to think good, to do good and make progress in life. Education enlightens the mind to differentiate between vice and virtue. Only educated men can lead the society to progress and civilization. When we do not educate our children, we are deconstructing our future.

Manipur society today witnesses all sorts of vices, among which disturbance in educational institutions is the most notorious. Planting of bombs and hurling of grenades in schools are no more bizarre incidents in the state. There were even reports of hurting school students in bomb attacks near educational institutions.

Such incidents clearly show the complete lack of education among the perpetrators. It is said that Hitler did not close down educational institutions during the hectic world war period. Winston Churchill of Britain also followed suit by allowing schools and colleges to work normally during the war. They paid utmost care for the education sector, as education is essential for future growth of the human society.

The most dangerous trend of school education in Manipur nowadays is the culture of private tuition. The school teachers have begun to canvass their students to come for private tuitions at home, in the same way the doctors refer their patients to private hospitals of their choice. Emergence of private tuition centres and the private hospitals as well have brought about a negative impact in the performances of teachers in schools and doctors in government hospitals.

For enthusiastic parents, nurturing their children means to ferry them to various tuition centres. It has become an expensive, time-consuming and a hectic job for parents who want their children to come up in high ranks. Then, what about the poor parents who cannot afford the private tuition culture ?

In the ongoing trend of education, students of rich parents easily become brilliant achievers, while majority of the poor students will become victims of inactive teachers in school. It is apprehensive now that most teachers neglect students who defy private tuitions. In general parlance, most of the topper students are product of noted private tutors or tuition centres.

The local people, Panchayats and political leaders have often been indulging in felicitating toppers of their locality, as a mark of encouragement to brilliant students. Their interests and involvement in education sector clearly shows that they have the potential to participate actively in educational betterment of the locality.

Besides felicitating toppers once in a year, the local clubs and political leaders need to monitor the performances of school teachers in their localities. It will be a true encouragement to the students of the area as a whole.

The local people have a great role in effective implementation of educational programmes in their locality. Before any government department realizes, a local man naturally knows how many teachers come to school on time and how many students attain classes regularly. The local people always see who go to school and who do not.

The flagship programmes like the right to education (RTE) can never be successful without the support of local people. The government needs to focus on the role of grassroot level institutions so as to effectively implement educational flagship programmes.

The Gram Sabha or local club is the best institution to assess the performance of educational institutions in villages. They may conduct a village level survey to identify the children who are out of school. Parents/guardians of such children may be motivated to send their wards to a nearby school.

The benefits of education and the amenities provided to school going children from the government side may also be highlighted to the parents. Effective messages to encourage the parents to avail of the right to compulsory education of their children may be framed and disseminated.

On the other hand, the village Panchayat or local club may also vigilantly monitor the working of schools in its jurisdiction. Every defaulting teacher may be reported to the respective controlling officer for prompt action. The grievances of the educational institutions may also be forwarded to the authority for timely fulfillment.

In such a way, the working of educational institutions may also be monitored. The local organizations and politicians who are very enthusiastic in felicitating topper students will surely shoulder the responsibility to ensure that every child of the locality is sent to school.