By Hrishikesh Angom
IMPHAL, Oct 31: Despite tremendous development works being implemented in Thoubal district under strict supervision of Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, Thoubal College reels under the apathy of the state government leading to serious downfall in the education system during the past few years.
Thoubal College was established in the year 1963 as one of the premier colleges of Thoubal district. It used to contribute a lot in the education sector of the state, but deficiencies in terms of infrastructure and manpower have seriously impacted the college for the last few years.
Currently, the college has strength of about 1400 students in the stream of arts and science with insufficient number of 52 regular lecturers and 16 part-time lecturers. It also lacks proper infrastructural setups for rendering good quality education to the students.
The college has insufficient number of classrooms and laboratories due to which holding of regular classes is often disrupted. The students have to stand near the verandah for long and wait till the other classes are over. Sometimes, the students could not have classes due to non-vacancy of classrooms.
Regarding this, one student told IFP that she comes to college everyday to attend classes but quite often classes are cancelled either due to non-vacancy of rooms or non-availability of teachers. Such deficiencies in terms of infrastructure and teaching staffs have adversely affected the students. The concerned authority should look into this matter and help the students get quality education, the student added.
The general secretary of Thoubal College, Robert Okley told IFP that the premier college of Thoubal district has been functioning without much attention of the concerned authority for the last many years. The condition of the college has been deteriorating due to lack of proper infrastructures and manpower.
The greatest problem of the college is insufficient number of classrooms and laboratories. Besides these classrooms and laboratories unavailability of water and power supply also affects normal holding of classes, especially those subjects with practical. The students of the college are lagging behind other students owing to the negligence of the concerned authority, he said.
Robert also stated that the government has remained silent despite of strident demands for the improvement of higher education sector of the state made from all sections of the society.
The Principal of Thoubal College, W. Nipamacha said that the college authority regularly submits proposals to the concerned department for the augmentation of existing infrastructures and manpower for imparting good quality education to the students, but the negligence of the higher authority has made all the proposals futile.
The laboratories of the college have not been upgraded since the 1970s.
Thoubal College is indeed a premier college of Thoubal district but the present condition of the college is disheartening for students with hope and aspirations in their lives, he asserted.
Other colleges in Thoubal district, namely Waikhom Mani Girls’ College, YK College, Lilong Haoreibi College and others are also in a deplorable condition with no proper infrastructure and teaching staffs.
The students of these colleges expressed a strong desire for improving the higher education system of the state. They also demanded the state government to pay more attention to the government colleges in view of improving the higher education sector of the state.
The general secretary of Lilong Haoreibi College, Abdul Hakim stated that the existing college building is in such a deplorable condition that it may crumble anytime. The concerned department has neglected the development of the college which has been imparting education to the students of Lilong area.
The college which was established in the year 1976 has strength of about 750 students in the stream of arts and science but the apathy of the state government towards the development of this college has marred the hope and aspirations of the students who will be the future pillars of the society, he asserted.
Abdul Hakim further appealed to the concerned authority to develop the college by installing necessary infrastructures such as adequate number of desks and benches, proper classrooms, laboratories and library. Moreover, the concerned department should also try to augment the shortage of teaching and non-teaching staffs of the college, he noted.
The government higher secondary schools in Thoubal district are somewhat good as compared to the colleges, but they also lack some important infrastructures vital for imparting quality education to the students.
The Chaoyaima Higher Secondary Education which was established in the year 1955 is one of the important higher secondary schools of Thoubal district. Presently the school has 754 students from classes IX to XII in the streams of arts, science and commerce.
The Chaoyaima Schoool is also one of the five schools of Manipur selected by the Education Department for the implementation of tele-education. 46 students of the school have been enrolled for the tele-education which aims to impart education in the subjects of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics as a part of the preparatory course for pre-medical tests and engineering entrance examinations.
The tele-education has been functioning properly with the installation of necessary infrastructures such as wireless broadband facility (wi-max) in the school. The electricity department has also given interrupted power supply to the school.
The tele-education is being implemented by the Education Department in coordination with National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Savant Educational Group. Classes are being held for two hours everyday from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
Speaking to IFP, Principal of Chaoyaima Higher Secondary School, Ng. Amuchou stated that the school has been functioning quite well except for shortage of some classrooms and teaching staffs. The students would get utmost benefits from the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikshya Abhiyan (RMSA) and other educational projects such as the tele-education etc.
The school authority has sent proposals for major renovation works as well as construction of multi-purpose hall, hostels and cycle-sheds to the concerned department. The problem of shortage of teaching and non-teaching staffs in the school has also been informed to the concerned authority and in due of course all problems of the school will be solved, he noted.
The Lilong Higher Secondary Madrasa has been imparting modern education to the Muslim students of Lilong area under Thoubal district since its establishment in the year 1959.
The school has strength of about 1200 students from classes VI to XII in the stream of arts, science and commerce. The secondary section of the school is exceptionally good but the higher secondary section (classes XI and XII) is somewhat not up to the mark owing to the shortage of teaching staffs.
The Principal of Lilong Higher Secondary Madrasa told IFP that certain classrooms and laboratories are currently under construction and in due course of time the shortage of classrooms and laboratories faced by the students will be solved. The school authority has already sent proposals for the augmentation of teaching staffs to the concerned authority and it is hopeful that the matter will be solved during a short duration of time.
The Lilong Girls’ High School was also found in the most deplorable condition amidst shattered school building and distorted academic atmosphere. The students of this school have failed to see the light of modern education and their future is quite blurred.
So, the concerned authority should take up the needful action to ensure quality education to the students of the state especially those in the undeveloped rural areas and help them shine in the future.