Sorry state of elementary education in Manipur
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 14, 2012 -

Satyajit Usham from the desk

On the importance of educating the people of an underdeveloped country, Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected South African President and anti-apartheid, once said, "Education is the most important weapon which you can use to change the world".

Indeed, the importance of education and its relevance to the society, the state and the nation at large, can never be understated.

The value and role of knowledge may be different from one society to another but a good and basic education system is essential for every society and at all levels, so much so that education has come to be regarded as the backbone of any human society and civilization today.

It is the light of knowledge gained through education that enable an individual not only to participate meaningfully in the socio-politico-economic process of the society but also understand the deeper meaning of life, the complex human relations and the cause and effect of relationship with one's own surrounding and so on.

It is in recognition of this intrinsic value of education that the government of India embraces the concept of universalisation of education right from the elementary stage and set it one of its national goals in tandem with the National Policy on Education, 1986.

The emphasis on education from elementary stage is understandable; after all, elementary education is the stepping stone for children in pursuance of higher goals in life.

Viewed against this backdrop, the present status of government schools in Manipur cut a sorry figure.

Apart from lack of basic infrastructures including proper building and class rooms, dereliction of duty on the part of the teachers and the apathetic attitude of successive governments towards administration of its schools has been the hallmark of the existing education system in Manipur.

In such a scenario, the outburst of the villagers during an awareness campaign at Sandang Senba Maring on 'The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009', which guaranteed free and compulsory elementary education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years, was not surprising but expected.

Everything that the Act stands for is something that the villagers have never known and deprived of all these years.

The dismal picture of the lone dilapidated UJB School in the village appears no better than a cow-shed with walls crumbling, floor dusty, benches and desks missing and so and so forth.

Though falling within the jurisdiction of Senapati, Sandang Senba Maring is a village located not far from the capital city Imphal.

Yet, the villagers continue to live in some sort of dark ages and are not even aware of enactment of such an Act even after nearly two years of its implementation.

If this is the reality of the prevailing education system in a village not so remote, then, rest of us, particularly the government officials concerned, should very well be able to imagine what it would be like in other far flung areas of the state without any prompting from any quarters.

The concept of universalisation of elementary education or the slogan of 'Education for All' may be pleasant to hear, but the picture before our eyes is far from pleasant, if we may add.