By Batskhem Myrboh
In less than three weeks the electorate of Meghalaya will exercise their crucial right to elect the future leaders who will shape the future of the State in the next five years. But the basic question is whether our political system can produce leaders at all. In the last Assembly, instead of having representatives to take us forward to greater heights of growth and development; we had boxers/wrestlers who by dint of bad luck were not selected to be part of the Indian Olympic contingent; we had MLAs who took afternoon siestas in the Assembly and musical chair players. The quality of debate in the Assembly is pedantic and not riveting. To assess the quality of their debates and speeches in the Assembly I had filed RTI application but did not get any reply fotr reasons best known to the Assembly Secretariat. When I listen to the speeches of our MLAs in seminars/conferences organised by different institutions in the city, I wonder at their courage to ramble aimlessly as if we are not capable of thinking. I am curious as to why politicians are the favourites of the so called intellectuals of the State who invite them as Chief Guests at important seminars.
However, let me come straight to the point which is whether the 2013 Assembly Elections will throw up capable leaders who can provide hope to our children and youth. Youth is hailed as the future of the nation but are we adult citizens responsible enough to ensure a good future for them through our powerful tool of the right to vote? Their future lies in our hands. They are the priceless resources of the State, the tapping of which depends on us. So far the electorate of the State has let the youth down by electing one batch of non-performing representatives after the other. Fortunately the youth have never questioned our mindless and irresponsible voting habits because they are victims of neglect who have not acquired the courage to question and critique our actions. I wish they did but I feel sorry that by the time they possess those qualities, they are already maimed by our irresponsible and crooked actions, ideas and lifestyles.
As an educationist I am excited each year after the Class XII results are declared and look forward to meeting a fresh batch of young people. In the classroom I look at their sparkling eyes filled with hopes and aspirations and am delighted, though I know that the joy would soon fade away. Many of them have the talents and capabilities but how to tap them is a big question mark. I feel guilty for being one of the parties involved in letting them down. They are already conditioned to being fed with detailed lectures and prepared notes. This poses a big challenge for any teacher to get rid of that acquired mentality. Students come prepared to mug up lengthy notes and to vomit those aimlessly during the examinations. Many of them think that teachers know best and no questions ought to be asked. Many are diffident about interacting with teachers because of their inability to speak good English (most of students from rural areas have this problem). Many of our young people enter college aimlessly because they have nowhere else to go. Many join a particular course because other options are not open for them. Still many others see no future and by the end of one year in college lose all interest in their studies. However, many question the teachers for being outdated and useless. I agree with this. I sincerely wish such kind of people join the teaching profession and help improve the lives of thousands of our young people.
However, I would be committing a grave sin if I blame our young people for the situation they are in. I am a strong believer in young people. A few minutes of association with them reveals everything. They have been trained since their early school days to be brainless, obedient students. They are trained to mug up their lessons to bring glory to their institutions. Little is done to train them to be creative self- learners. Should teachers be blamed for this? Partly yes, but, again, there is a problem here. Teaching is considered a lowly paid profession with no dignity and worth associated with it. It is often remarked that if a person cannot do anything else let him/her teach. Our society has made the teaching profession so distasteful for the majority. Only those with a noble soul and a true desire to serve the young or those who are left with no other option join the teaching profession. But teachers belonging to the first category are very rare in today’s materialistic and power hungry society. Of course hypocritical praises are heaped upon teachers every year on 5th of September but for the rest of the 364 days they have to live a life of insecurity and the indignity of being a secondary worker. They are paid less than a “nongbylla sngi” (daily wage earner) for educating and imparting training to children. They have to struggle, to go to the streets, participate in sit-in-demonstrations and are even jailed to get their hard earned returns for serving our children.
Parents want a good future and good job prospects for their children. But this can be achieved only when they are imparted quality education by quality teachers. Looking at our State I am sorry to say that our educational system is directionless and without any relevance to the hopes and aspirations of the youth and also without relevance to the needs and problems of the State. The Education Department is manned by successive incompetent ministers and assisted by irrelevant and position conscious bureaucrats and colonized by many incompetent, irresponsible and valueless teachers. Looking at the working of the bureaucrats manning Education Department so far, one would wonder at their competence. They have not done anything substantive to develop education and nor do they give wise counsel to the ministers to tackle the long pending problems associated with the Department. One finds it difficult to distinguish these bureaucrats from ordinary clerks. Education is never a top priority in the State’s agenda. Almost everyone in the State Government thinks that education is child’s play and can be managed by the most incompetent persons. But they are destroying the future and lives of our dear children. Education is not simply about making someone capable of the 3 R’s – reading, writing and arithmetic. It is about making and shaping children’s lives, their thinking processes, their actions and building a future for them. It is about instilling the spirit of enquiry training in them; reorienting and arming them with problem solving skills and helping them realize that they can do something with their inborn potentials.
I must, however, thank the Donkupar led MPA Government (2208-09) for trying to bring reforms in the educational sector. At the same time I admonish the MUA Government for short-circuiting it. The educational system in the State needs serious reform, revamping and streamlining. We need to have an Education Reforms Commission consisting of eminent educationists to examine the problems and come up with viable recommendations. We need to have a relevant and meaningful Education Policy. We need to provide quality education including higher education in rural areas. We need to recruit only the best minds as teachers. We need to pay attention to teachers’ problems and also to fix accountability on them. Above all we need an Education Minister who is not only intelligent and committed to bringing change but also has the heart for children and young people, and a supporting Chief Minister. Is the electorate of Meghalaya capable and responsible enough to elect such representatives to the Assembly in Elections 2013?
Let us not disappoint our children. All the best Meghalayans!
(The writer is Assistant Professor Department of Political Science Synod College & Research Scholar, NEHU)