At the moment there must be thousands of Manipuri students studying outside the State in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Banga-lore, Pune, Chandigarh etc pursuing higher education and professional courses including diploma courses and while it must be admitted that quite a number of students studying outside have done brilliantly there is the growing apprehension that there are some students who have strayed.

It is against this backdrop that Manipur University Students' Union, Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur and Manipur Educational Development Research Association have lined up a seminar cum public discussion on the theme “Migration of Manipuri Students” on May 6 and 7.

The discussion is timely for it has come at a time when so many questions have been raised over the conduct and behaviour of such students who are pursuing their studies outside the State.

Far away from the eyes of their guardians and parents and in big cities which offer them the opportunity of anonymity it is but not surprising to hear that quite a number of students from Manipur studying outside have strayed, morally and intellectually.

Not all the students from Manipur manage to get hostel accommodation and it is but natural for some students to pool in and stay in rented flats or rooms. In the absence of any rules and regulations then it becomes easy for these young students to do as they like.

In some cases, one will come across supposedly students, but who have not been admitted to any educational institutions. There are also instances when some of these students fail to pick up any knowledge and come back without the benefits of being exposed to the outside world, where competition is admittedly very fierce.

One does not have to study minutely to understand why an increasing number of students from Manipur are opting to study outside the State.

The push factors are many. Class boycott, bandhs, the fragile law and order situation, absence of academic atmosphere at the university level and at the academic institutions, lack of facilities such as a well equipped library, lack of opportunity to mingle with the best minds in the subject concerned etc are all reasons why parents who can afford it send their wards and children to study outside the State.

However at the flip side, we also have to admit that many of our students who go outside to study come back without availing any of opportunities that are available at the university or academic institutions. In fact some of these students come back without even picking up a word of English or Hindi or the language of the State where they studied.

One reason why some of our students come back without picking up any rudimentary knowledge is because of the inborn characteristics of the people of Manipur to stick amongst themselves and failing to mingle with students from other parts of the country.

Education is not only about what one learns within the confines of one's class room but entails much more than that.

For our students to really reap the benefits of studying in some big cities and in some well known universities, this fact should not be lost.