Blooming work culture
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: January 08 2013 -

Visitors taking a tour of the farm of KM Blooming School :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao

William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century British literature, once said, 'Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire', and it is this fire ignited by the knowledge gained from education that an individual can get enlightened and see the path of life.

That is why we say, education is not just about passing examinations and getting some certificates or securing job, but its real purpose is to help individuals to develop intellectually, physically, morally and aesthetically for facing the challenges of life successfully.

But the sad thing in Manipur today is that most school authorities are paying more attention to excellence of their students in studies only to bring laurels for themselves as well as for the school so that more students could be attracted to seek admission. That is pure business.

On the other hand, the system of education prevailing in the State is such that the students are subjected to rote teaching leaving no room for cerebral exercise that could make them be able to differentiate between the light and its shadow.

In this mad rush for high score or grade in the examination, the confused parents too have not been of much help to the even more confused students who are being dragged from one tuition centre to another in between the school hours.

Even for deciding their future career, the poor students have no choice but to take up some course studies, which their parents think would bring lucrative returns.

In such a suffocating environment, the endeavour of KM Blooming Higher Secondary School, a private residential school at Khangabok in Thoubal district to inculcate the value of work culture and moral education among its students so that they could become self-dependent and upright in life comes like a wisp of fresh air.

The importance of imparting the value of work culture and moral education to students from an early age in a society where moral decadence and lack of discipline among the people, particularly the youngsters, who are future pillars of the Nation, is something that may not require over-emphasis here.

Apart from the type of educational approach that has been adopted to make the students understand the worth of their existence and responsibilities in life, what has caught the attention of the public is the manner in which the school authority has been feeding all its 1500 student-boarders with fresh vegetables grown, fishes reared and meat products exclusively produced from its own farm located with the school campus spreading over an area of 10 paris.

The products from the farm have not only come handy in arranging 'wholesome mess' for the student-boarders daily but also in saving extra expenditure that would have been spent on procuring provisions from outside. In the process, the students learnt the hard facts of life.

Well, it is not for us to judge how far the school has been able to success in moulding the character and mind of the young students and free them from the usual cluttered classroom teaching, but we can't help gloating when one of own its former students commented to the news report, 'Education with a difference' saying 'I am proud of being a student of KM Blooming English School that makes my life meaningful'.

All that we are saying is that past pupils should be made to feel proud of their alma mater when they look back and this should be the yardstick of running any educational institution successfully.