MDM fund comes handy for payment of contract teachers
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, April 21 2013: The scheme of Mid Day Meal (MDM) may have been launched by the Government of India with the main objective of protecting children from classroom hunger, increasing school enrollment and attendance while at the same time addressing the problem of malnutrition by ensuring required amount of food calories, but in Wangoo Tera Government High School of Thoubal district, the students have to sacrifice their meals as the fund sanctioned under the scheme is being utilized for payment of salary to contract teachers hired by an Association to ensure smoothing functioning of the school.

This startling fact came to light during a visit to this school as part of the Hueiyen-Reach-Out trip to stock of the prevailing education scenario in far flung areas of the State.

Wangoo Tera Govt.High School may have been upgraded from the primary level in 2011, but it remains as one of the most neglected educational institutes in Manipur.

Crumbing walls of the school that force the students to run out everytime strong wind gushes

Apart from lack of necessary infrastructures, no adequate teaching staffs have been ever posted in the school even after more than one year of its upgradation.

However to address this problem of inadequate teaching staff, three social organizations, namely Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Tera Unemployed Educated Youth Development Action Club (TUDAC) and Southern Rural Development Organisation (SRDO) have formed an association named Mahei Loishangshing Chakhathannaba Khunjashing-gi Apunba Lup with the support of the local people, through which contract teachers are hired for teaching the students.

Talking to members of Hueiyen-Reach-Out Team, Amom Joy, President of Mahei Loishangsing Chaokhathannaba Khunjashing-gi Apunba Lup, informed that even though the enrolment of students in Wangoo Tera High School has already been appreciable, earlier, the school, which got its Government recognition in 1978, had only 8 (eight) regular posts including the school chowkidar.

It had no Headmaster and most of the time; classes were not conducted as the teachers posted from far off places rarely came to the school.

Taking serious note of the matter, the association was formed and hired six contract teachers to ensure regular conduct of classes in the school.

At present there are around 275 students in the school.

However, as the school that has no fund of its own for payment of salary to the hired contract teachers, representatives of the association and local people requested the concerned DI for giving money instead of food provisions under Mid Day Meal scheme and this money is being used for payment of salary to the hired contract teachers.

Each of the hired contract teachers is given Rs 3000 per month as salary.

Recently, 5 teachers including 4 female have been posted to the school under RMSA, but most of them do not come to attend school as they are from far off places, Joy disclosed.

He went on to inform that at the time of upgradation of the school from the primary level to the high school, there were only 11 desks and some benches and there was no class rooms except for a broken one.

But today, a large hall has been constructed for conducting classes for students with the money contributed by the local people themselves.

While inspecting the school campus, it was seen that the construction work on 10 class rooms of the school which was started in 2012 under RMSA is yet to be completed but the walls have already started crumbling.

Apart from this, there is no fencing wall of the school or separate room for library, computer and office.

Toilet and drinking water facilities are not available in the school.

Deploring over the condition of the school, villagers of Wangoo Tera pointed out to the visiting Hueiyen-Reach-Out team that the education reform measures that the Education Minister of the State has harping on at every possible public platform could become a reality only when the government pays attention to the condition of the educational institutions in far flung and remote areas of the State.

Focusing attention on some higher level institutes in urban areas would not help.

They also invited the Education Minister to at least pay a visit in the area and see for himself the existing condition of Wangoo Tera High School if he really meant what he says about education reforms in Manipur.