Reminder to regulate private hostels : Making a beeline for Imphal
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 15, 2022 -

Perhaps this is the right time to remind all, the Government, the parents, teachers, students and school managements, that it was not so long back that a loud and audible noise was raised to regulate the functioning of the different boarding facilities that have sprung up at many places in Imphal and even beyond.

Now with the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur having announced the Class X exam results, one can expect many students from other districts, including the hill districts to pick Imphal as the place of their choice for the young students to continue with their plus two studies.

No surprise that Imphal is the place to study for many students, for invariably it is the schools located at Imphal which have always bagged the lion’s share in the merit list of the Class XII exam results and obviously parents, guardians and elders of the family would want their children to continue their plus two level at some of the more sought after schools located at Imphal.

This is fine and totally acceptable, but the moot question is what steps have been taken up to regulate the functioning of the different boarding houses that have sprung to provide accommodation to the out of station students who may come to Imphal for their further studies.

Remember it was only in 2019 that a huge cry was raised on the need to regulate the different boarding houses and hostels, after the mysterious death of N Babysana inside her hostel.

Public memory is short and three years down the line, it is not very clear whether any new recommendations have been enforced or put into practise for the private boarding houses and hostels to follow or not.

Not all schools have hostel accommodation and this is where enterprising people who happen to stay in the vicinity of any well known private schools can and do open up boarding facilities to house the young students who may have come from outside Imphal.

If any steps have been taken up to regulate the different private boarding houses and hostels, then it would greatly help if those steps are given the needed publicity for the public to consume.

Or is it a case of fire and brimstone when the issue was hot in 2019 only to be forgotten now ?

With students, parents, guardians and elders of the family queuing up for admission of their children and wards in some of the better known private schools at Imphal, perhaps this is the opportune moment to remind everyone of the need to regulate the functioning of private boarding houses and hostels.

This is what education should be about. It is not only the marks that one scores in the final exam, either at the Class X or Class XII level that will ultimately count but how well rounded a personality a school is able to groom.

And hostel life surely has a significant role in moulding the personality of a student.

When one talks about regulating the different hostels that have sprung up to accommodate the out of station students who may come from different districts, it is important to lay down certain criteria for the warden who will effectively be in charge of the daily functioning of the hostel.

How hygienic is the hostel mess ?

A step which will not financially burden anyone, but is nevertheless important to ensure the well being of the young students.

These are but just some measures that come to mind and regulating the functioning of the different private hostels should include the points that have been raised here.

Just as the Government has launched School Fagathanshi Mission with the focus on Government schools, perhaps the different private schools in Manipur may join hands to ensure that the different hostels that have sprung up may follow certain guidelines for the welfare of the students.

Why not float a body which may look into the functioning of the different private hostels and boarding houses, particularly at Imphal ?