Migration of students from Manipur

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'Migration of students from Manipur'
— Causes, effects and remedies —

By: Oinam Anand *

'Prevention is better than cure'. Man knows it. But men seldom take medicine before ailments show symptoms and only try to cure when the illness surfaces on the body. It is natural that we look for water only when the fire breaks out and search for lock and key when the birds have flown away from the cage already.

It is in this background that the outcry of the migration of students from Manipur to the outside States gained momentum recently with some student organisations leading from the front.

It is strange but true in Manipur that in some colleges the number of teachers far exceed the number of students enrolled in an academic session. And if this trend continues then there may be a time when the Govt think it better not to allow to open these colleges further as it has done to amalgamate some high schools and downgraded some higher secondary schools.

But will this measure help the education in our State in the long run? No, not at all. It is just like amputating our diseased or injured limbs in order to relieve from the present pain. The need of the present situation is to find a permanent cure without amputating the whole structure of education in our State.

Some ten or twelve years back, the authorities in the Department of Education whether a Commissioner, Secretary or Director had great headaches in arranging admission of students who came out with a certificate of HSLC to admit in the next higher classes.

The number of students passed outnumbered the intake capacity of the higher secondary schools and colleges. Many students have to make beelines before the admission counter of reputed colleges and secondary schools to get an admission from. Many parents went to the extent of greasing the palms of the officials of schools in which they want to get their wards admitted.

The situation has got a U-turn in these two or three years. While we are debating in the streets over the performance of Govt schools and private schools, the class rooms have got empty seats specially in the degree levels. This change is solving creeping in the education scenario in Manipur as most parents send off their children in schools outside Manipur mostly after 10+2 level.

As a result the number of students enrolled in the colleges decreased year after year. There must be thousands of reason which compel a parent to take decision of admitting their children outside Manipur but there are also some reasons for which we cannot put the blame entirely on the shoulder of the parents and students.

The parents have alrea-dy thought of giving their children the best food, the best cloth, the best education and the best thing which they can provide for them because parents always seek to realize their dreams and aspiration vicariously through their children. Of all these aspiration, to provide best education for their children is supreme in the mind of the parents.

From the past few years there has been a mess over the syllabus and the choice of text books in the high school curriculum and above this the deteriorating law and order situation in the State had helped to flourish the flame of fascination that has already been existed in the minds of the well-to-do parents. The fascination is none other than the fascination to send their children to study outside Manipur.

The Manipur University has also rendered a great help in exporting a great number of students from the State to other States. Since its inception MU has failed to follow a concrete guideline for holding examination and covering the syllabus in an academic year.

It fails to keep up the promise made in the academic calendar though some progress have been there recently. Some years back a student had to spend more than five years of his life in possessing a degree certificate from this university for no fault of his but done to the perpe-tual postponement of examination for one reason or other.

The authorities in the education department are continuing to operate in their customary way. No wonder even the funding available for providing infrastructures is not being fully utilised. They are working more or less as they have been working in the past.

There is no diversification, no change and no improvement in the methods of teaching or in the system of examination. What is called vocationalisation is virtually absent in the degree level which is a very essential part of education in this level and it is one big muddle to which neither the Govt nor the college and the University authorities has paid any serious attention.

The fact of the matter is that our system of education continues to be what it was in the early 50s. The differences is only the increase of number of teachers and their salaries. Everything else remains the same.

The last but the greatest factor of the migration of students from Manipur is the present law and order situation. The cheapest thing in our State is first bullet and the next is bandh and general strike. One can predict the late arrival of moonsoon or coming of flood due to heavy cyclone, but who can predict what will happen in the next minute.

The age of the youths at the stage of 10+2 is a vulnerable age in the suspicious eyes of the security forces and it is this fear that most parents think it better to exile their children in any part of India without having a second thought what course does their children take up but to keep their children in safer place not in Manipur.

The effects of this mass migration is felt in our society to-day. It is better to leave it to the hands of the intellectual for further discussion. Without looking at these issues today and without finding an answer to the problems the future is dark.

Oinam Anand wrote this article for The Sangai Express
This article was webcasted on May 14th, 2006

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