Why outside after Class XII ? Time to invest in education
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 21 2018 -

It is that time of the year and again The Sangai Express is constrained to touch on a topic which it has been doing so for long at this time of the year.

It is a repeat of the earlier observations made in this same column for years and at the risk of repeating a point The Sangai Express would like to once again question, why thousands of students feel compelled to move outside the State once they finish their Class XII exams.

Is it a question of the colleges in Manipur not giving the cutting edge knowledge to the students or is it a case of something else, such as the students not being given the liberty to pursue their studies in an ideal situation ?

Either way it says something very profound about the ground reality and the most disappointing part is, no one seems to have given any serious thought to it.

Take the colleges for instance. How many colleges in Manipur actually offer the right ambience for the students to carry on with their academic pursuit ?

Are the libraries well equipped ? Do the teachers actually put in their extra effort to teach ‘something more’ to the students ?

Are the students motivated enough to pursue their studies with more vigour ?

How is the level of competition ?

No one would question the academic credence of the teaching community but this still does not answer the question of why so many move outside the State to pursue their higher studies.

Something, somewhere is missing and it this missing link which should be actively studied.

This is where the numerous student organisations, the State Government, the elders of society and yes the students themselves should be asking now.

Not all will get into medical school or engineering school.

Many will opt for pursuing their degree courses while some will go in for professional courses, other than medical and engineering.

The common thread here is many of them will be studying outside the State.

This is the reality but yet this still does not answer the question of why so many continue to move outside the State once they finish their Class XII examinations.

It also stands that not all the students will get into some of the more prestigious colleges in the country or university.

This still has not stopped thousands of students to migrate outside the State for their higher studies.

A clear reflection that something is very, very wrong when it comes to higher studies in Manipur and this is a sad reflection of the time.

And studying outside does not come cheap.

Not all the students will get into hostels and in such a situation, living on rent then becomes the answer, thereby doubling the expenditure of the parents and the guardians.

Take the travel expenses from some of the cities of India to Imphal and other places into account and one can easily work out how much money parents have to shell out for the education of their children.

The situation is something which is not irreversible, but the worrying trend is, no one seems to have given any thought to this.

It is a big drain on the parents and on the Government and unless something radical is done, the migration of students outside the State will continue.

Invest thoughts and considerations for the youngsters without costing a pie and herein lies the essence of investing in education.