Leader Writer: Hrishikesh Angomcha
Considering the limited number of postgraduate seats offered by Manipur University in its own campus, the state government should initiate the task of opening up postgraduate courses in the colleges. As of now, DM College of Science is the only government college to have opened up PG courses. Thousands of students graduate every year from various colleges, but then only few hundreds of them could pursue postgraduate studies in the state. The limited number of seats in Manipur University is a big challenge to the students. No doubt, the level of competition is high as thousands of students vie for admission to few hundreds seats for postgraduate courses.
The state education department should chalk out ways and means to offer higher education to maximum number of students. The only way to offer postgraduate studies to more number of students is to open up various PG courses in the colleges of the state. However, it is not an easy task for the state government to do all at once. The government should at least consider opening up PG courses in colleges like DM College of Arts, DM College of Commerce, GP Women’s College and Imphal College where enrolment of students is relatively high. With such arrangement many students will be able to pursue postgraduate courses in the colleges other than in Manipur University.
Even the regional campuses of IGNOU and IGNTU could not accommodate many students. The number of seats for PG courses in various colleges and universities of the state should be increased to accommodate the growing number of students graduated every year. Moreover, not many students could afford to study in other universities outside the state. So, the government should consider opening up PG courses in the colleges as soon as possible.
According to the preliminary census report of 2011, the literacy rate of the state stands at a staggering 74 percent which is even higher than the country’s overall literacy rate. However, this high percentage of literacy rate could not contribute much to the human resource development of the state. The education department should enhance human resource of the state by focusing more on quality rather than quantity of education. Like the elementary education the government should try to ensure higher education to each and everyone so that every person would be able to contribute significantly to enhance human resource of the state.
Besides PG courses various job-oriented courses must also be introduced in the colleges. The students would benefit a lot if such courses are opened up in the colleges. The outflow of students from the state would eventually come down if the education department works in the real interest of the students. The state government needs to put more emphasis on higher education sector as there has been laxity on the development of colleges for the last many years. The students must be encouraged to pursue higher studies by providing better facilities and conducive academic atmosphere.
Therefore, the state government should try to develop the infrastructures of the colleges as early as possible to impart quality education to the students. PG courses must be opened up in the colleges soon to boost human resource development of the state. The authorities of Manipur University should also consider increasing number of seats to various PG courses. Thrust to higher education sector will expedite the progress and development of the state. After all the students are the future pillars of the society.