Fate of young school children : Re-opening schools in CCpur
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 03 2015 -

It was some sort of a dilemma but a pleasant one at that. The English edition of The Sangai Express faced this situation on October 1, deciding which news should be the first lead story for the day (The edition hit the newsstand on October 2).

Unlike other days, there were three news stories, which had relevance to the time and the place.

It was a dilemma but a pleasant one at that and ultimately the English edition of this paper decided to go with the Churachandpur story, wherein it was reported that schools are likely to re-open from Monday.

The other two stories had to do with the exclusive chat that The Sangai Express had with the new Chief Secretary O Nabakishore and the other was the seminar at the IGAR (S) headquarters at Mantripukhri.

One common theme that ran through all the three stories was the law and order situation in the State.

If the Churachandpur story gained eminence due to the report that schools are likely to re-open from Monday, that is October 5, the chat with the new Chief Secretary centred around his desire to remove the ‘unsafe place’ tag of the State.

The seminar at the headquarters of the IGAR (S) had to do with need to engage the underground outfits at the strategic level. All pertaining to the situation in Manipur and this is relevant to Manipur and hence the dilemma.

Ultimately, it was decided to put the school story of Churachandpur in the lead news for this is something about the future of the young kids, who have been denied their right to education after the State Assembly passed the three Bills on August 31.

Not the first time this column is commenting on the precarious situation in which young students find themselves in.

For nearly two months or 60 days, young students in the valley area had to suspend their academic pursuit, when the movement to introduce a Bill to safeguard the indigenous people of the State was at its peak.

It was not only schools and colleges which were closed, but students had to forgo their tuition classes too. A big loss for the young students.

After August 31, the focus shifted to the hill districts, particularly Churachandpur and after the huge uproar that has already claimed the lives of nine people, schools and colleges have remained closed in Churachandpur district.

In the days of street protests no one gave a thought to the plight of the young students, with everyone refusing to look beyond the immediate.

Now that the JAC, Churachandpur has decided to relax their agitation for a few hours in the morning, the possibility of schools reopening has returned and this is a welcome development.

At the same time, it also needs to be kept in mind that it absolutely makes no sense to gamble with the future of the young children, whose future hinges on their academic pursuit.

This is the age of competition, a time which has no place for the average and excellence is the calling card.

In such a situation, it would amount to shooting oneself if the future of the young children are held at ransom in the course of pursuing a demand.

Time to stop playing around with the future of the young children.