TET forms at district headquarters
Wiser after burning a finger
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 19, 2012 -

More a case of being wiser after singeing a finger.

Did Education Minister 0 Okendra agree to the demands put up by numerous hill based student organisations to make available the Teachers' Eligibility Test form at all the district headquarters in the face of the 48 hours bandh called by the Kuki Students' Organisation or was it due to a realisation that the 'Imphal only' stand went against logic ? The 48 hours bandh has been suspended, thankfully, but where does that leave the State Government or the Education Department and the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur ? Opening TET examination centres at all the district headquarters may entail some technical difficulties, but does it make any sense to issue the forms only at Imphal in the first place ? A reflection of a mindset where the Government refuses to look beyond Imphal.

And to think that the Education Minister himself has more than once announced that equal importance would be given to the hill districts in the matter of education and everything looks so hollow, sans any substance.

A case of the Government adamant on hammering in the nail on the hill-valley divide and nothing can be more unfortunate than this.

It is ham handed decisions like these which make the hill districts even look more remote than they actually are.

It takes about 3 hours to go upto Ukhrul district headquarters by bus, 90 minutes or less to go to Senapati district headquarters, two hours or less to go upto Chandel district headquarters, 90 minutes or so to go to Churachandpur district headquarters and six hours or maybe a little more to proceed upto Tamenglong district headquarters.

And to think that the Government cannot make the necessary arrangements to issue the TET forms at these district headquarters and conduct the examination there is ridiculous.

The worrying part is not as much as what the students would have done, if the Gov erment had refused to see reason, but the extremely casual approach adopted by the authority towards the question of conducting an examination.

True the TET does not mean automatic recruitment or employment, but to many, and there must be thousands, it would mean exploring one's employment avenue, which in turn would mean finding one more option for one's livelihood.

All the more reason why the Government should throw the net as far as possible.

It is the refusal of the Government to see something as fundamental as this that is worrying.

Equal development and taking the valley and the hills along with each other is something more than just building roads and bridges.

The understanding of equal development and equal focus should transcend the purely physical aspect but seep into the invisible but felt inner consciousness.

The Congress Government should learn how to step out of this mental cage.

In power for the third consecutive term and the men helming the present Government should know better than this.

The decision to make TET forms available at all the district headquarters is welcome but this is something which should have been an automatic move and not something which had to come about after a hue and cry has been raised.