Manipur Education Policy, (A draft framework proposal)
- Part 2 -

Ph. Nandakumar Sharma *

Students appearing for Class X Exam (High School Leaving Certificate) :: 01 March 2016 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

5. Higher Secondary Education:- This is the stage where students are opened to a verities of courses/streams and allow them to select a course/stream of their choice for their future life. The education in this stage is designed to more pre-vocational and pre-professional.

As the need of the society changes from time to time, the course/streams are to be updated and new subjects be introduced. This is the age of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Foreign trade, Tourism, Science and technology and Games and Sports.

As such, our students are to be exposed to the world class educational technology for excelling the field of their choice. Over and above the Foundation course, the following streams be opened with most modern educational technology.

1. Science Stream
2. Arts Stream
3. Vocational Stream
4. Commerce Stream and more particularly
5. Art and Culture stream and
6. Sports Stream.

This will make the state a self sustained state in human resource to meet the need of the state, country and neighbouring countries. To meet the3 demand of the modern society in Science subject, the subjects like Information Technology, Biotechnology, Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery, Horticulture, Microbiology and Biochemistry be included.

In the commerce stream the subjects like foreign trade, Foreign Exchange regulations be included. Special care should be taken in opening subject which are much needed in the socio-economic condition of the state. A successful implementation of the secondary education will lead the state into a self sustained economy.

6. Educational Tourism:- In this today's world of fast changing development progress, the transfer of knowledge and transfer of technology has played a key role. The vehicle in which this transfer of technology and knowledge is being done is through education. Thus education has become and agent of change in every country.

The distance is not the matter and man has rushed towards the country where there is most advanced technology and knowledge. India has become the leading country in the field of development of human resource in information technology from India and abroad. India's vast investment inflow is also from the information technology transfer. Many students from foreign countries specially from the developing countries and the south Asian countries are coming to India.

Manipur because of its geographical location has become the front door of India to the South East Asian countries. As such, it may become an educational hub in India for receiving the students coming from the south east Asian nations through land route. Manipur has the ample opportunity to harvest this rare phenomenon. In order to materialize this, we are to study what are the areas in which the student from the south Asian countries does their studies in India.

If Manipur develops the required infrastructure and the curriculum and syllabus of the interested areas, our state can become a little paradise on earth for education. The geographical location of the state as well as the round the year moderate climate makes the state Manipur as an ideal place for education throughout the year.

This type of climatic condition is not available in any other part of the glob. Moreover, the rich cultural treasure, food habits and the art and culture are the other plus points to the educational tourism in the state. There are many enquiries from the foreign nationals asking for advance course in Manipuri dance and martial arts. The relaxation of the Protected Area Permit by the Government of India facilitates the incoming flow of foreign learners to Manipur.

One of the area in which Manipur can develop educational tourism is the teaching of English as foreign language. There is heavy demand for English language teachers in the South East Asian countries including China and Japan. Because of the cultural gap between the east and the west, these countries are poor in English language teaching.

Moreover, the British and American native speakers also do not want to go to this region for region for teaching English because of heavy dependence on local languages. Manipuri language being a language through which most of the sounds in English language teachers provided emphasis is stressed on linguistics, speaking and listening activities.

The prospect of educational tourism in Manipur can be augmented if the foreign languages of the neighboring countries are also introduced in the Manipur University and other institutes. The educational tourism will provide two way benefits to the people of Manipur by generating employment in Manipur has endowed an advantage to the people in hosting the educational tourism for the neighboring counties.

Manipur can become the best place for school education and higher studies for the neighboring countries if world class building s and infrastructure are developed. Not only in general education, advance technical education and art and culture education, education in healthcare will attract many foreign students from the South East Asian Countries.

7. University and Higher Education: University is not only a place of higher studies but also an institution which is authority in every sphere of decision making on different issues concerned with the state or the nation. It not only provides higher education in wide range of subject areas but also helps the state government in guiding for big projects for the benefit of the people.

As for example, the direction to which the economy of the state should move shall be prescribed by the department of political economy and department of economics of the university. In the developed countries universities play a vital role in spreading advanced and higher technical education and in the act of taking major decision on different issues concerned with the state or the central government. The university is the place where all the innovations are carried out.

In university and higher education stage, the subjects which were introduced in the secondary and higher secondary stages are expanded into full grown subject for further research for future generations to come. In Manipur, the scope of higher and technical education at present is litter better than the traditional subjects which are out dated and have no place in the society.

It is no wonder the very few students come for admission to some of the subjects like the M.A. Mathematics and philosophy because of the unpopularity of the subject and its lack of applicability in the society.

To be continued....