Villagers join hands to ensure education for the young
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 29 2025: In a glaring example of a community coming together to rescue the State's failing education system and impart education to future generations, a village in Ukhrul has hired teachers to plug acute shortage of teachers at a Government run school.

With only 6 teachers, the Tuinem High School was failing on all fronts 3 years ago, before the villagers took it upon themselves to save it.

The school is the only Government run school in Teinem village.

Teinem, earlier known as Tuinem, is a Tangkhul village under Chingai Assembly Constituency and has a population of over 4,000.It is located 78 kilometres from Imphal and 25 kilometres from Ukhrul district headquarters.

Villagers join hands to ensure education for the young

Speaking to The Sangai Express, former chairman of the village.

Yangsing Raleng said, "When the Government ignored, the people had to come together to save the school for the future generations of the village".

The Tuinem High School is the only Government high school in the village and is "very important" for the villagers, Raleng said.

The school has only 6 Government teachers and all of them are Primary teachers, he said.

With only six Primary teachers posted at the school, there were no teachers to conduct classes for higher standards, Raleng said.

Students dropped out and parents were forced to send their ward to other far off schools.

The number of students enrolment decreased and as such the school was about to fail completely, he said.

This was when the villagers searched for ways to save and revive the school, and eventually hired 6 teachers, he added.

"The school came back to life after the villagers took it upon themselves to engage 6 teachers using money out of their own pockets," Raleng said.

After the additional teachers were hired, children returned to the school and the number of enrolment improved, he said.

Raleng said the school now has a total of 118 students.

The six teachers, engaged by the villagers, are paid between Rs 7000 and Rs 8000, he added.

Raleng continued that before the violent conflict broke out between communities, the school had one contractual Meitei teacher and 2 Kuki teachers.

After the conflict erupted, the teachers were posted in other places.

However, the Department, so far, has not sent their replacement yet, he added.

Further, the school also had a Meitei chowkidar.

He too left the school after the conflict broke out, Raleng said.

While the school building is in good condition, it needs infrastructure and manpower.

The school's toilet and other infrastructure need to be repaired and improved to meet the required standards and the needs.

What the school is lacking the most are teachers.

Without adequate teachers, the school will fail and along with it the future of the village, Raleng said.

He urged the Government and the authorities concerned to look into the needs of the school and address them at the earliest.

Raleng also spoke to The Sangai Express about the condition of the Primary Health Centre in the village.

He said the PHC has one doctor and two nurses at present.

The doctor is a native of the village and as such, is available to the villagers anytime.

While this is convenient.

the PHC is lacking infrastructure and manpower, he said.

The PHC has no Lab technician and there are no staff quarters.

No doctor or nurse would want to be posted at the PHC for it has no quarters for them, he added.

The PHC not only serves the people of Teinem but also other villages.

The people of the region depend on it for treatment of various ailments.

Such an important healthcare centre must have all the necessary manpower and infrastructure, he added.

The Primary Health Centre may be upgraded to a Community Health Centre to better serve the people of the region, Raleng said, urging the Government and its relevant departments to look into the shortages.