Editor,
The Monday accident at Lummawbah is very sad indeed. One precious life was lost and four other persons were badly injured. As the bus was on its way up, I found it difficult to understand the nature and cause of the accident. It was only when I met my friend from that locality that I could learn about the cause of the accident. It was not a case of overloading but of mis-loading. Buses have high roofs and loading of heavy items like steel rods or other hard ware raises the centre of gravity quite high up. In the turning where the vehicle has to counter the centrifugal force, it is bound to overturn. It is unexplainable and unforgivable that in times like these when we have trucks side by side with passenger buses, the authorities could not apprehend the danger and threat of using a bus as a truck and that too with very heavy roof- top loading. Let the above tragic accident open the eyes of the authorities so that they can come up with appropriate laws to prevent such accidents in future.
Yours etc.,
Wandell Passah,
Nongkrem.
Culture & education
Editor,
In his articles: “Missing Link in Our Education – 1 & 2” published in your esteemed paper (the second one on 21-02-2012), Barnes Mawrie has pointed out that ‘culture’ is the link that is missing in our education system. I agree with the author that the alienation of culture from our education would bring about adverse effects on our young people and the society at large. The present system provides a lot of ‘information’ without proper ‘formation’ to our young people. Secondly, we all agree that our home is the ‘first school’. At home, we perceive things from our cultural context; we speak and express through our mother tongue. And so the child needs this basic culture and language to continue in his/her reading and writing; at least in Primary Education (as the author suggested). How can we expect a harmonious learning in our schools and educational institutions when the child is so suddenly cut off from his/her home environment? As of now, on the very first day at school the child has to change his/her mental make-up into a totally foreign atmosphere. We need to re-think and re-organise our education system. English language is, no doubt, important at this juncture of global history; but it needs to have its own place in the stages of our education system. I believe that our need for education cannot be effectively met by ‘parroting’ the English language from a very young age.
Yours etc,
George S. Lyngkhoi
Shillong – 8
In the name of ‘Minority’ institutions.
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I wish to draw your attention to some of the practices in certain so called ‘minority’ institutions in our state. Certain schools and colleges fall under the category of minority institutions as per the Constitution of India. A minority institution caters to the educational needs of religious minorities. But are these so called ‘minority institutions’ really serving the interests of the minorities or have they become a good source of earning money. Many of the schools and colleges in our so called educational hub of Shillong charge absurd fees from students in the name of education. Their yearly earnings runs into several crore but they don’t pay a single paisa as tax because of the minority tag. Now, the question is, what are they doing with the huge amount of money since they are certainly not paying the teachers in their institutions adequate salaries. They say teachers are the backbone of the society, but such moral platitudes do not help them run their families. How can one expect a teacher to perform well when he or she is underpaid? It would have been understandable if the fees of students are low and the institute has no money to pay the teachers, but today if one takes a tour of the city and enquires about the fees in different colleges and schools, mainly the private ones, one would be shocked at the amount charged by such institutions. It is here that civil society must play a vigorous role and investigate into the financial management of these institutions and why they are not paying their teachers decent salaries. Minority institutions cannot treat teachers like slaves since teachers are equal partners in their institutions.
Yours etc.,
Ruben Lyngdoh
Via email