Pedagogy of the frontiers
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 15 2015 -

Academics and educationists in the Northeast region of India have for long stated that the history of the region has been almost left blank in most prescribed syllabi for schools, colleges and universities across India.

They have even argued that this trend of neglect in educating the nation have been partly responsible for the near total absence of the region in the minds of the general populace.

The issue when probed further relates to bigger questions pertaining to the overall educational policy adopted by the country.

While accepting the principle that education is one of the most important mechanisms for the advancement of human beings or rather liberating oneself from the ignorance, there have been numerous issues dogging policy implementation related to education.

While laying stress on awakening a child to inculcate existent value system and enabling him or her to nurture dreams for livelihood, it has been generally agreed that professional training is one of the many requirements for imparting knowledge.

If one considers the child to be the future of a nation state that encompasses diverse value system derived from variegated cultural moorings, there is no second answer to the fact that every child deserves quality education.

This will determine not just the quality of life but also help build credible characters.

This is why policy planners have taken the Right to Education Act 2009 very seriously.

However, along with the introduction of the Act also came the difficulties of implementing the same due to numerous hurdles created by those who are considered responsible authorities.

When societies are burdened with challenges like lopsided development, inequality, poverty, conflict and regional disparity, it remains to be seen how successful respective state governments implement the policy.

This is why there is a need for serious deliberation facing the challenges of education.

Under such circumstances, there is also the need to look at the dynamics of imparting education in the Northeast afflicted with socio-political turmoil for decades.

The impact of political violence and socio-economic crises has tremendous impact on the students in particular and education in general.

Now is the time to actually assess how bandhs, blockades and strikes have affected the entire education system in the region.

Emphasis should be given to how the states have responded to such crises rather than keep on parroting the fact that private institutions have fared much better than the state run educational institutions in the Northeast region.