Editor,
I agree in most parts with Patricia Mukhim’s write-up “Why is Meghalaya Police floundering?”. Ms Mukhim has pointed out several anomalies in the police department, from its top-heavy leadership to amateur policing. However let me remind the good editor that she should not presume to direct or lecture senior police officials about who should be accompanying which politician on their official tours. That matter is the prerogative of the department alone, and unnecessary meddling in internal matters will only hamper morale. Ms Mukhim has taken exception to the fact that the DGP did not personally accompany the Home Minister on her tour to Garo Hills. At the same time she admits that a senior police officer of the rank of IGP went with the Home Minister on her travels. Now I would really like to ask Ms Mukhim why she feels it necessary to turn this non-issue into a controversy and thereby confuse the readers. While on the one hand, she makes sweeping comments about upholding journalistic traditions, on the other hand she has shown that she too is not above sensationalizing issues and forcing her personal opinion on the public. I therefore request Ms. Mukhim to stick to the bare facts and give us the Real News instead of spicing things up in this manner.
I will continue to be a Shillong Times subscriber as long as the paper does not succumb to the twin temptations of Paid News and Sensationalism, the main evils of modern day journalism. I also want to say that I am a great admirer of Ms Mukhim, even though my criticism may not go down well with her and the paper. But it is my belief that all of us are only human, and therefore fallible. Constructive criticism is therefore the only way out sometimes to steer us back on the right path.
Yours etc.,
C.H Marak
Tura.
Outdated MBOSE syllabi
Editor,
The Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) has always lagged behind other Boards in terms of curriculum updation. The syllabus has remained the same for the last six years. That already speaks volumes of how backward our educational system is. We are teaching things that ‘were’ relevant and not things that ‘are’ relevant. There is a facade that everything is alright with MBOSE. There are so few critiques of this important institution. Hence the Board has become complacent and does not care what it is ‘feeding’ the kids. To add fuel to the fire, they plan to continue this current syllabus for a few more years. Who knows, the few years many even turn into a hundred years! Why doesn’t MBOSE learn from other education boards? They change their syllabus often to cope with the changing times. Here MBOSE wants the future leaders and the led of the state to forever live in darkness without a clue as to what is happening outside this little state of ours and outside the classroom.
For example, if someone were to ask an ordinary student about the conflict in Syria, he or she might not even have heard about it. The reason for this is not only the defective syllabus but the failure to initiate classroom discussions on current events. Not only are students not well versed in current affairs, but many text books prescribed for the higher secondary course are defective. An example is the Political Science text book for Class XI. The other major failure is that while students are able to grasp the given topics they are unable to express their understanding in words. This also comes as a big hindrance to the students because when they have passed the secondary level, they have to face a new set of circumstances. In college students can’t just learn notes given by teachers, but also have to use their power of understanding and express their ideas in their own words. Here is where the students encounter massive problems. They do not have the wherewithal to make their own learning material ( I am referring to some particular subjects, not the entire curriculum) and get very meagre grades in the end.
I would like to suggest to the Board that the syllabus-framing committee immediately review the syllabus so as to make it more up-to-date. As for the other issues, the educational institutions should conduct creative writing classes to enable students to express their creativity. For I was and still am, a student and I am pointing the facts based on my personal experiences.
Yours etc.,
Julian LR Jyrwa,
Shillong-1