New Education for new Manipur 10

You are here: Home » education » New Education for new Manipur

E-Pao! Education - Completely new education for a new Manipur - 10

Completely new education for a new Manipur
— With special reference to the hills —
Part 10

By: T. Vunglallian *

Note: There are several other reasons for the above proposals, over and above that of being the logical and consequential result of both no transfers and separate services policy viz, Firstly, we of Manipur all respect seniority (and are prepared to accept and even cope with certain in-competencies that age may bring).

Secondly, for the entire staff, students and community the line of headship becomes crystal clear, thus ensuring continuity, stability, co-operation... and most of all... the real opportunity of making long-term plans... something education really needs!

Thirdly, if as per the Next-in-Line order, the next Headmaster/Principal is known for poor-health, in-competency and other un-becoming traits/conduct for a teacher (like, addiction to liquor or drugs, gambling etc) the following are suggested for adoption:-.

(i) The power of veto by collective decision of a general body of teachers of the concerned school/college and the immediate non-political leaders of the community the school/college serves to ensure that only good "teaching" teachers, respected in all respects by the teaching, learning and parents' community are considered for headship.

(ii) The incumbent head's voluntary formation of a (fixed only for her/his term/tenure) Consultative Committee from amongst the next one or two senior-most teachers of the said school/college to assist her/him in running the institution till her/his retirement. For the next-in-Line this period of consulting/assisting would be a training period before becoming the next head.

(iii) The voluntary non-acceptance of the headship post by the supposed-to-be-head and her/his willingness to continue teaching and, thereby, passing on the mantle upon the second next-in-line becoming the headmaster/principal.

Note: The great advantage of the above non-Government selection process for the next Head in a school/college, is the continuing scope for the institution's improvement etc., because, both the incumbent and the next-in-line have a stake in the well-being of the institution.

As such they could even work around all problems, like the next-in-line being of poor-health, or having too short a tenure, or most likely to be not so competent. Such problems/issues would be surmountable because of the said stake-holders!

(The government's role would be to approve and formalize the smooth Next-in-Line changeover, or in the case "veto" accept the recommendation of the general body of teachers and community leaders. Such, if put into practice, would do away with the politicization, and bureau-cratization of education.)

The above implies, that today's all-Manipur based inter-seniority list of senior-most teachers who become Headmasters and Principals, more often than not, have no stake in the 'real' well-being of the hill or valley school or college. This is because, sadly, most Heads just want a quiet evening of basking in the glory of headship, for a few months or a year before retirement.

Also, most heads who are not original residents of the village/town where their institutions are located tend to commute, resulting in arriving late, leaving early and absenting themselves, without leave, on the bandh days that clog the academic calendar!

Fourth, there would be an end to superceding of seniors by juniors who have all the right connections. This has happened often and has often been the reason for non-cooperation, splits, difficulties and outright hostility from seniors.

However, anyone ever put under suspension or has a vigilance case etc should automatically be ruled out for headship of school or college period.

Sixth, the hitherto blaming of politicians and faceless bureaucrats for all the ills of education shall fall silent.

Fine on 'selection' post:

The selection post lobby for the post of Headmaster/Principal is, under normal circumstances, the proper one. But, all said and done, Manipur is not 'normal', hence this paper and because our track record for "selection/selecting" is a mighty poor one!

Further, let us pick on two uncomfortable questions that arise against selection , viz.:-

One: What shall be the fate of a selection post/regularized headmaster/principal whose school/college keeps going downhill during her/his tenure? Shall she/he be shuffled out and given another school/college? To spoil? Or given a desk in the Directorate and designated OSD?

What if the selected & regularized but under- performing Doctorate-Head - for college principals - has 10 to 15 years of service left?

Would she/he be de-regularized or de-selected? Or made to go back to teaching? (Which is nothing wrong for they are teachers, but in Manipur, once selected or having sat for a while on the Principal's seat, some wrong notions make the "headmasters/principals" think they are above and beyond teaching!

Two: Most importantly, and realistically, Manipur is very communalized (but, by and large, not in the bad sense), and so it is not too easy to just select and post a Headmaster/Principal wherever a vacancy falls.

The above may be explained in the following way. Let us imagine the following -
e.g. Let us say the Principals of five Government colleges, viz. Imphal City College, Tamenglong College, Lilong College, Kangpokpi College and Churachandpur College have retired and for once the government have been able to fairly select 5 qualified doctorates, viz. Dr. Ali Javed, Dr. Ibotombi Singh, Dr. K. Shaiza, Dr. L. Haokip and Dr. Zoramthanga.

Manipur's peculiar problem is that:-

Dr. Ali Javed will be able to function/work best, and would like to be the Principal of Lilong College. In fact, the Department would have, kind of, 'reserved' Lilong College for him already.
Dr. Ibotombi Singh would be acceptable in any of the colleges but he too would find it uncomfortable to be effective and strict in any but Imphal City College.
Dr. K. Shaiza would not be at ease being posted in any college but Tamenglong College. In fact, without any asking, the Department itself would rule out Kangpokpi and Churachandpur College for him. They would already have kept Tameng-long College for him!
Dr. L. Haokip would also intentionally be kept away from Tamenglong College while he would not feel so comfortable at Imphal or Lilong College. He would like - and be posted - even without his asking, either to Kangpokpi College or Churachandpur College ... as if the two colleges were reserved for him!
Dr. Zoramliana would be able to move to any of the five colleges. But all of us know he would be better off at Kangpokpi College and, best off at Churachandpur College. The Department would have planned the above for him, without his asking!

So, despite what all us would like to say and believe, the above configuration, though most un-becoming of the fair name of education and an entity known as the state of Manipur ... where many communities live and live (more so used to live) harmoniously... the fore-mentioned is sad but, nevertheless, a reality. What is true just above is all the truer, the more interior the school or college is located in!

The reason behind this writer's suggestions for the way Manipur should select its Headmasters/Principals via an in-school/in-college next-in-line system, i.e. specifically from out of the teachers who shall be serving / spending their service lives in their one and only school/ college, is to emphasize one of the most important needs of educational institutions, viz. smooth change and continuity ... hopefully evolving continuity.

Smooth change and continuity are two of several things vital for new education in a new Manipur.

Read Part 1 | Read Part 2 | Read Part 3 | Read Part 4 | Read Part 5 | Read Part 6 | Read Part 7 | Read Part 8 | Read Part 9 | Read Part 10 | Read Part 11 |

T. Vunglallian wrote this article for The Sangai Express. The writer is a retired Lecturer of Churachandpur College. This article was webcasted on November 14th, 2006.

* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.