School Fagathansi Mission : Look beyond the school level
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 14 2020 -

Inauguration of School Fagathanshi Mission at TG Hr Sec School on Dec 11 2020 :: Pix - DIPR Manipur

The School Fagathansi Mission of the BJP led Government at Imphal should be taken with all the seriousness it deserves. Seen along this line, the commitment of the Council of Teachers Association (COTA) to extend unstinted support to the clarion call of the Government is worth noting.

And when one talks about the need to improve schools, it obviously means the Government schools, whose image has taken a severe beating down the years. It is to ostensibly ensure that Government schools improve that a number of Ministers and other political leaders have been voicing the need to ensure that all Government school teachers need to admit their children at Government schools.

This is fine, but one wonders where the sons and daughters of political leaders study. As leaders why not take the lead and admit their children in Government schools, is a question that ought to be raised at this point. It was not always like this.

A good number of well known doctors, engineers, lawyers and others in different professions are products of Government schools and to ensure that these schools improve, one may need to go back a little and study where and how the downslide began.

A strong indication that the Government schools have not been able to keep up with the changing need in the education sector. What was once acceptable in the classrooms may no longer be so today and the question is whether the Government schools have been able to keep up with the changing demands of the time.

Are the students being prepared to face life and not only the three hours inside the examination hall? Are the students being trained in such a way that they can be well prepared to face the competition from students across the country? Hope the School Fagathansi campaign has taken note of these questions and only then will the mission come anywhere near the stated goal.

The Government will also need to look beyond the schools and study where education at the college level stands. As stated many times in this column earlier, after a child finishes her 12th standard, in most cases, the destination is outside Manipur for her further studies.

Those who crack NEET, JEE and other competitive examinations such as for admission to pursue BSc in Agriculture, MBA, Hotel Management, Fishery etc, it is understood why some of them may need to move outside Manipur for their further studies.

But not all will get through the competitive examinations or will be eligible to appear for the entrace tests, and this is where thousands of such students make a beeline for institutions based outside Manipur, such as colleges in Delhi University, Punjab University, Madras University etc.

Why is this so is the question that should have been raised much earlier. To many parents and elders of the family, it is not only about the standard of the colleges here as such, but more about how freely the students are able to pursue their academic career.

This is a question which should concern all, the public and the Government.

School Fagathansi is no doubt a catchy slogan, but it should be more than a slogan and there is the need to look beyond schools and look at education at the college level too.