It is that time of the year again and with the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur and Board of Secondary Education, Manipur, announcing the results of the Class XII and Class X examinations respectively, educational institutes have gone to town, highlighting the performance of their students. Not a bad thing at all, and intrinsic in the different institutes highlighting the performances of their students lies the point that producing excellent students is today no longer the monopoly of any single institute. This is a sharp departure from the earlier days, say about six or seven years back, when the mission schools enjoyed a near complete monopoly in the Class X examination.
In the Class XII examination too, it was a toss up between some select schools, but now this does not seem to be the trend and a look at the merit list of the first 25 position holders in different streams will leave no one in doubt that some institutes or schools have emerged and started posing a serious challenge to the near monopoly enjoyed by these handful of institutes earlier. It is here that the people have to thank the enterprising individuals and teachers who pooled their resources and got together to set up schools to address the lack of good educational institutes in the State. The competition amongst these institutes is tough, no doubt and how tough it is can perhaps be easily deciphered from the manner in which these top notch higher secondary schools have gone about to woo the toppers in the HSLC examination.
A point which can also be underlined by the fact that there are today some schools which first earned their names by being coaching centres of excellence in preparing students to appear for NEET and engineering entrance examinations. Obviously these schools are today emerging as top attractions of many bright students, particularly students who have set their eyes on becoming doctors and engineers.
Schools excelling in Arts and Commerce streams too are not lagging behind and it is heartening to note the continuously good show from the students of Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Maram and EK Higher Secondary School in these two streams. That many of these higher secondary schools, particularly the science specialised schools are leaving nothing to chance to catch the best students possible is clear from the numerous freebies put up on offer. So students who have excelled in the Class X board examinations are being offered free studentship, meaning free admission fee, free tuition fee, free transport fee and scholarships etc. Competition amongst the schools not only in terms of getting the best result but also in attracting the best students and herein lies the interesting part. Whether this is good for the overall academic atmosphere of the State or not is left to the experts to deliberate upon, but clearly the present trend is a clear indicator that everyone loves winners. The question is, where does this leave the others who just missed out on being categorised as the best ?
Source: The Sangai Express
