Students' Federation of India (SFI) conference
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 10 2012:
The 8th Manipur State conference of the Students' Federation of India, Manipur State Committee was opened today at Khuman Lampak Youth Hostel.
The conference will continue till tomorrow.
Speaking at the opening function, Manipur University Asst Prof Chinglen Maisnam advised student bodies to pay special attention to education sector and related activities.
He said that student bodies need to make thorough studies about education policy, budget and education infrastructure of the State.
Quoting Annual Status of Education 2011 rural report, Chinglen said that 71 children out of 100 between 6 and 14 years study in private schools as against the national figure of 26 per hundred children.
At the national average 42.3 per cent of the schools located in rural areas have libraries but only 1.6 per cent of rural schools have libraries in Manipur.
Moreover, the 93.3 per cent of the State's rural schools do not access to potable water.
94 per cent of them do not have compound fencing and 58 per cent do not have any playground.
Saying that there are many shortcomings and flaws regarding policy, infrastructure and budget for education in Manipur, Chinglen highlighted the need for student bodies to pay special attention to these areas.
The function was also attended by Prof Ksh Bimola as chief guest, SFI general secretary Ritubrata Banerjee as special guest.