Making a beeline for private schools : Freebies put on offer
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 21, 2022 -

The rail of the All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU) to regulate private schools and hostels could not have come at a more opportune time than now.

With the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur having announced the Class X exam results a few days back, the destination of most parents, elders of the family and the students themselves are the better known private schools located at Imphal.

While the competition to enter some of the better known schools is immense, it is also interesting to note the 'stiff competition' amongst some of the private schools to attract the students who have come out tops in the HSLC exams.

The freebies offered including free admission, free study materials, free tuition fees and the list can go on, study course offered for NEET, JEE etc, the prominent spaces booked for advertisements in the Imphal based newsparpers to let the people know of the freebies being put up for offer etc all go to underline the fact that some of the better known schools are leaving nothing to chance to attract students who they think are the best by S virtue of the tag given by the Class X board examination results.

It is amid this 'stiff competition' that AMSU has raised the need for the Government to regulate the functioning of private schools and private hostels which have sprung up at many convenient places.

With so many lining up for some of the better known schools, the question is, how many students are admitted in a class ? Or more particularly how many students are made to sit in a single classroom during school hours ?

Parents have not raised this question, but it is important for the Government and the school managements plus associations of the parents and guardians to come to an,understanding on how many students should sit in a single classroom.

This question should relate to ail classes and not only to the Plus 2 level.

It definitely is not a healthy sign to hear that 70/80/90 students are packed inside a single classroom. Definitely there could be ways to lessen the number and make the experience of attending class in a new school at the Plus 2 level more enjoyable for the young students.

There are so many points on which the Government can and should lay down certain conditions for private schools.

The ventilation of classrooms is one such point. Do all the schools have good drinking water provisions for the students or are the students expected to come to school with their own water bottles ?

How about the snacks and food being sold or served at the eatery opened inside a school ?

Is the minimum standard of hygiene being maintained ? How about playfields ?

Are the schools equipped with playgrounds or is it a case of expecting the students to stay cooped up inside the classrooms during the school hour ?

How about the libraries or is the library fee taken just for the benefits of the school concerned ?

This is where the Education Minister himself may take a personal tour of some of the better known schools and get a first hand account.

The young students definitely deserve the basic necessities for school life should not be understood only through the prism of text books and classrooms.

The need to regulate the functioning of private hostels has already been touched upon in an earlier commentary and one hopes the Government listens to the point raised by AMSU.

Let school experience be enjoyable for the young students.