Editor,
NEHU and its affiliated colleges have apparently decided to go ahead with CUET 2022. So the gavel has come down and with it the inevitability of the fate of Meghalaya’s students. Most of the seats will be filled by students from elsewhere, definitely so in the disciplines which are in demand for prestige and in the job market. The second rung of admitted students will be locals from the creamy layer of tribal families from Shillong and Tura. Last and mostly left out will be poor tribals from rural areas. It is well-know that the number of aspirants for a college education in the state far exceeds the available seats.
In the news item on the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) in the Shillong Times, April 27, 2022, various political leaders have opposed CUET citing lack of connectivity and transportation at exam centres, and affordability of exam fees. But these reasons are not why we should oppose CUET.
These so-called merit entrance tests are only good at one thing: preserving privilege. It is the main reason why India’s education system is derided as an “examination system”, unsuitable for true learning for the vast majority of India’s students, serving in the end to only further demarcate the elite from the masses. Research shows that these exams only measure aptitude in exams.
Justice Krishna Iyer in a 1981 Supreme Court judgement said, “Our examination system makes memory the master of merit”. In 1985, Justice Chinnappa Reddy, another Supreme Court justice asked, “How can a child, brought up in an atmosphere of penury, illiteracy and deprivation, who scores 40 per cent in a competitive exam, could be considered inferior to a child brought up in the lap of luxury, who studied in the most exclusive schools and colleges and got 70 or even 90 per cent?”
After millennia of accessing the best education, jobs and wealth at the expense of the poor, the upper classes are in a dominant place, to ensure that their children end up being the most meritorious, thus embedding vast social inequalities between different classes.
On what basis is the Tamil Nadu government opposed to NEET? The Justice Rajan Committee Report shows how NEET discriminates against the poor as well as Tamil medium students. All the opposition parties support the government, except the BJP.
It is not our children who fail, it is the system that fails our children. In a backward tribal state like ours, a plentitude of factors are responsible. Poverty, malnutrition, abysmal facilities, unpaid teachers, poor quality state education board, all conspire to cognitive deprivation. No amount of hard work or high motivation can overcome these impossible hurdles. We then expect them to compete with the best and brightest in the country.
Yours etc.,
Glenn C. Kharkongor,
Via email
A recipe for disaster
Editor,
The recent decision of urban Affairs Department, Government of Meghalaya to increase the height of commercial buildings to 27 meters (7 floors) from the existing 15 metres (4 floors) in plots of 7500 square feet by adopting a surreptitious route of declaring some localities of Shillong as City Centre Zones appears to have been taken more due to extraneous factors than on any rational consideration. Or else how does one explain localities such as Bishnupur, Laban, Polo, Malki Market, Oakland, Barapathar (Mawbah), Dhankheti amongst many other localities being notified as City Centres on grounds that these localities have so much potential for commercial development that commercial buildings rising to 7-8 stories high have become a necessity. It’s ridiculous to say the least.
This decision must have been taken under duress as it defies logic. When congestion and overcrowding is killing Shillong and precious little is being done to decongest the city apart from lip service, the decision to increase the permissible height of commercial buildings and consequently the population density and traffic in these localities, appears to be just adding fuel to the fire. Just imagine additional floors now being added to the existing commercial buildings in Police Bazar, Laitumkhrah, Polo and other localities and the resultant congestion.
The city has already reached a point of saturation. Lack of enforcement has led to buildings coming up at handshaking distance from each other, on steep slopes, on areas prone to disaster, on river courses, by encroaching into public spaces, by violating the bye-laws. Each and every day one hears people complaining about the living condition in the city. When there is a burning need to decongest, Government in its wisdom (?) has felt it prudent to increase the height of buildings. With the level of infrastructure which exists in the city and firefighters in most cases failing to negotiate the existing terrain and narrow roads, decision to increase building heights is only a new disaster in the making.
It is unfortunate that the present government is taking decisions which involve public safety and welfare without actually consulting the people, even while issues raised by the public are blatantly ignored. No wonder therefore that public is left with no other options but to knock on the doors of the Judiciary to bring the Government on the rails. Government should be a little more responsive to the public who have elected them to power.
Yours etc.,
B. Dutta,
Shillong-1
On legalizing gambling
Editor,
No parent is ever happy to see a child turning gambler. Gamblers always bring misfortune on their families. Gambling is a tricky snare laid for human greed to be trapped! Is one who bets not always a loser? If we conduct a sincere survey, we shall come to know that innumerable households have fallen apart due to over-addiction to the archery game alone. If a member in a family falls prey to gambling, then the whole family will have to suffer. Gambling addiction is not different from drug addiction.
More importantly, besides monetary loss, it destroys one’s reasoning power, sensitivity, and creativity. A gambler obsessed with gambling cannot have a higher vision. He can hardly think of future ambitions and consequently, he becomes a liability to his state. But strangely, the Government is resolutely determined to legalize the casino, and maybe much more, in the state. This is very unfortunate. We can hardly keep our people from playing online. They are far smarter; they are techno-savvy!
One hopes that the Government would rather put its sincere efforts to create an environment for other kinds of employment or set up other facilities and amenities that will help our youngsters blossom into vibrant talents. Those who fall prey to bad habits will see their potentialities just whither. One talented citizen with a good character is a bigger asset to the state/nation than a thousand gamblers with no vision. So, let’s not gamble with the future of our youths – be they from within the state or outside.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong