New initiatives taken up by the Govt : Understanding education
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 22 2015 -

Good timing. Good publicity too-that is the new initiatives taken up by the Department of Education (Schools).

Coming close on the heels of the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur (COHSEM) and Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BOSEM) announcing the Class XII and Class X results, the Government could not have got the timing more right than this.

The wide publicity too is welcome-front page advertisements in almost all the popular dailies of the State.

However it remains that education cannot be measured by publicity drives and good timings alone.

A look at the Class X and Class XII results should underline this point.

As in previous years this time too, the top honours went to all the private educational institutions and the pass percentage was pathetic.

This is not universal education at all.

Pathetic it is to even think that around 40 percent of the students could not even pass the Class X or Class XII examinations and this at a time when the world is talking about excellence.

A 60 or even a 70 percent score is today no longer enough.

To make it or to shine, one has to score more than this and to even think that more than 30 percent of the students could not crack the examination is indeed scary.

The pass percentage must definitely be lower in the Government schools and if not for the private institutions then the overall picture could have been more ugly.

And to even think that private school teachers continue to be paid a pittance while their counterparts in Government institutions draw handsome salaries and there is definitely something very rotten about the whole thing that passes off as education here.

A pity it is that so far the Government has not uttered a single word about this.

The Common Entrance Test set to be introduced for admission to some Government schools sounds good.

It of course remains to be seen how many bright students opt for Government institutions.

If the past is any indication there may not be many competitive students lining up for Government schools and this is where the attention of the policy framers should be focused.

Why do bright and competitive students and their parents prefer private institutions ?

The answer will be obvious to all, but the Government does not seem to have paid much thought to this.

It is also good to hear that the Government is planning to set aside a certain amount of money to provide free coaching classes to prepare students for the entrance test to enter Engineering and Medical schools.

Time will only tell whether this plan will yield the desired results or not, but it is good to see that some efforts are in the pipeline to help students from the economically backward families.

Along with the steps that are being proposed to be taken up, it will also help everyone if the Government takes a look at the state of education at the college level.

Not everyone can get into Medical and Engineering schools and most students will have to pursue degree courses.

At the risk of repeating yet another point, why do students have to go outside the State to pursue meaningful education every year ?

Let the Government take up measures to help the students, but at the same time some thoughts should be given to the state of colleges here too.