Hueiyen -Khenjonglang campaign outrages Maring villagers
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 12, 2012:
It is said reality bites, and that was what exactly happened at Sandang Senba Maring village in Senapati district today.
A public awareness campaign on Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 organised by Theatre in Education Unit for Children, Khenjonglang with Hueiyen Lanpao as media partner opened their eyes, but the stark reality of deprivation of the rights to education of their children all these years has outraged the villagers of Sandang Senba Maring village.
Nearly 2 years after implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, in short Rights to Education Act (RTE), which ensures free and compulsory education up to elementary level to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years all over India (with exception to Jammu and Kashmir), villagers in Sandang Senba Maring have no idea about the existence of the Act.
Kicking off a series of public awareness campaign on RTE Act and Child Rights under the guidelines of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the inaugural function was held at the community hall of Sandang Senba Maring village today.
In the campaign, a street play highlighting the provisions of the Act was staged to convey the message.
From the play, the villagers came to know that every child in the age group of 6 to 14 years is entitled to receive free and compulsory education.
But this was something they had never known.
Flummoxed, the villagers abruptly interrupted the play pointing out whatever that are being conveyed through the performance are complete hogwash, far remove away from reality.
The villagers said that in their village, or for that matter, in the surrounding region, none of the children have ever received any free and compulsory education in any government school.
They informed that there is one primary school which has up to class V in the village.
But there are no benches or blackboard.
There is also no regular class and the timing of the school depends on the conveniences of the headmaster/teachers.
Providing mid-day meal to the children as shown in the play is an affair that happens once or twice a year in the lone school of the village.
One woman pointed out that in the absence of proper infrastructure; many parents are discouraged from sending their children to the lone government school in the village.
"Who would not want to send their children to school to get good education? But the government school in our village is in such a bad shape, we prefer to send our children to the nearby private school run by the Church even though we have to spend huge amount of money", the woman added.
"The class room in our village school is so dusty that even if I send my son to school making him to wear newly washed cloths, he returns home looking no better than a Buffalo", she had the last word on the condition of the lone government school in Sandang Senba Maring village.
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