Editor,
As an ardent admirer of the legendary orator, Bah Hoover Hynniewta, I read the special article, “The Meghalaya Literary Assembly” (June 8, 2022) by Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh with keen interest. The article transported my memory back to one afternoon in the summer of 1972. The location: the chamber of the Speaker of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. While Bah Radhon Singh Lyngdoh (Bah Duh to my father), Bah Hoover and my father were deeply engrossed in their conversation on various topics, I sat on a chair in a corner of that big chamber observing these three friends conversing with each other and exchanging views laden with wit & humour. A small boy then, their conversation did not interest me much and it was natural for me to get fidgety as I was itching to go out of the room to enjoy watching the blue-yellow city buses and the black-yellow ambassador taxis plying on the road (now called Soso Tham Road). Despite being in the midst of my restlessness, I still clearly remember that one of the topics they delved upon was so interesting that it was a big takeaway for me from their conversation-
Selection : u paidbah u jied ia me da kawei ka sur
Election : u paidbah u jied ia me da bun ki dur. (Selection: when the people vote unanimously…Election: when people vote through multiple choice)
Yours etc.,
Allan Lyndem,
South 24 Parganas,
West Bengal
BNSL: Poor service delivery
Editor,
With much fanfare and publicity, BSNL introduced its Broadband Fiber internet service in Williamnagar town on November 20, 2020. However, after getting a BSNL broadband connection the customers feel cheated as the service provider could not live up to their expectations. The broadband service is always not functioning; sometimes it remains without service for over 10 days in a month and with no guarantee from the service provider as to when it will be restored.
The customers would like to remind the BSNL authorities that with the entry of Jio Fiber providing broadband service in parts of Garo Hills, a time will come when there will be no takers of their service. Hence, requesting the BSNL authorities to sit up and take notice of these complaints and provide better service to their customers.
Yours etc.,
Ivan N Arengh
Williamnagar
Stark reality of SSLC topper’s success.
Editor,
Congratulations once again Amebaaihun Kharbhih of St Paul’s Marbisu. It is a matter of great achievement and it is heartening to listen to her reasons of a great feat of this sort. First is her complete trust in the Almighty, second, her resolute mind and will power to aim for the top slot, blessed with the family’s inspiration and thirdly the Mathematics and Physics teacher who has put in whole-hearted effort not only to help her alone but the students in general. And this is what all teachers should try their best to do. And last but not least is the Principal of the school who when one listens to his interview has gone the extra mile in acknowledging, “Theory without practice is lame and practice without theory is blind.” Science teaching is supported by textbooks and much more with experiments and practicals that are easily affordable. How happy was one child of Class 7, ICSE school when she told her parents “I saw a rainbow in the school laboratory and the prism costs only Rs 20. Such experiments will imbibe in the child a love for Physics.
Amebaaihun has also suggested to all SSLC friends to make use of YouTube. There are good Samaritans in Science who love to give their best to the users without counting the cost. During the Covid lockdown computers had substituted real life experiments. This has helped tremendously in making practical lessons close to real life experiences. And these YouTubers are people from our own country and from outside as well. To me, success of this sort must be attributed to these computer-aided graphics. The only sad reality is the rich- poor divide but if laptops were given to all who passed SSLC a few years ago, we see no reason why this should not happen today.
To conclude, I have a humble request to MBOSE as far as text books of Physics by Sally and Agarwal are concerned. From July, courtesy an English daily, letters upon letters were written on this issue and one letter was shot off to the Chairman, MBOSE Tura. The letter sent by Speed Post was devoid of delivery status and so I apologize if the letter was not delivered. But far from doing anything to correct the anomalies of the Classes 9 and 10 Physics, CBSE was introduced in 2019 -20 session, displacing the Physics book by Mehta & Brothers. In the 2020-21 2021-22 session this same Sally and Agarwal Physics was introduced but with 2 erroneous topics (Supersonic Boom of Sound and ‘Fuse ‘of electricity) removed. And surprisingly, the cost shot up from Rs 250 per copy to Rs 285. The DERT should have intervened on the issue of price. More devastating was to find upon proper analysis that 3 practical lesson very also removed. They included Bell Jar (sound), Archimedes Principle (Why ship floats on water) and Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction that resulted in man’s ability to build dams to move the magnet to and fro, the copper coil etc).
When asked as to who approved such a book, the MBOSE failed to give any response. The 2019-2020 MBOSE debacle with South Garo Hills being the worst hit was due to this. And if the CBSE which is nationally recognized includes text of Classes 11 and 12 which are linked to topics in Class 8 with this Sally and Agarwal text book which is full of errors, our children studying under MBOSE would never get the justice they deserve.
Yours etc.,
W. Passah,
(Member of the 2005 workshop on curriculum and textbooks evaluation committee arranged by DERT (GOM) in collaboration with National curriculum framework New Delhi.