Leader writer: Leivon Jimmy
The education atmosphere in Manipur never gets better, and apparently will never be.
Proving this point would not be a hard topic for anyone especially denizens of the state who have witnessed unique forms of agitation every now and then.
One of the most unfortunate and grim realities creating worse case scenarios out of the educational system are ‘we’ sons/daughters of the soil. Our reckless acts have always been posing as a threat to the career of students’ community.
The most glaring and effective example at the moment is the ongoing agitation demanding separate district for Sadar hills. The agitation has given enough hardship to the general public but the most important issue remained the career of thousands of students, who have been deprived the right to education for over a month now. Around 7000 students of 136 schools, alone in Saitu-Gamphajol sub-division, are at stake.
The educational institutes have been paralyzed for more than a month now but there seems to be no immediate measures in sight to save this lot from both ends (the agitating and government).
To mention some ground realities, Children are using the National Highways as their playgrounds. They were seen running along the highway in packs carefree. The most shocking discovery is that the phrase “an idle mind is devil’s workshop” fits in very well, as these children started to even mimic the blockade supporters.
Looking back to the past, the people have seen similar deprivation but much worse, the educational system in the state especially in valley districts were paralyzed for several months in protest against the July 23, Kwairamband incident. The July incident has already created a huge gap in the academic career of a generation, huge enough that many fears what the future holds.
Keeping aside these two issues, there are frequent strikes, bandh, blockade annually on many issues, most of them does not relax educational institution from the purview of the agitation. And still there are more issues ahead of us that could bring similar fate on academic atmosphere.
It is questionable, is it really necessary to deprive the students of their right to study however genuine the demand is?. Students are considered the future pillar of our society but if the pillars are weak will our society be stable?.
Where is the Right to free and compulsory education act passed by the parliament on August 4, 2009, providing provision of free and compulsory education to children from 6 to 14 years.
If we are serious enough, this is the high time that all the section of the society including the government, to put a full stop to the trend of unnecessarily disturbing educational institutions in any issues. So that we could pass down a whole new legacy to the next generation free of gambling students lives and career.