Editor,
There’s much hullabuloo over the reservation-roster policy of the state government. Nobody bothered to examine closely the easiest solution to this burning issue. Nobody would question the choice of merit as the criteria of selection. I remember on many occasions the late PA Sangma would advise our tribal students and encourage them to shun the reservation umbrella. He himself had competed at the highest level. Our tribal students be they Khasi or Garo have excelled in open competition in mainland India. Many of them have occupied enviable positions in reputed corporations and foreign companies. As administrator of Primary education I recollect the late Hoping Stone Lyngdoh coming to my office and in his over-bearing style directed me to appoint a lady teacher who was under qualified. I asked him if he would allow a bus load of children to go on a picnic to Dawki driven by the driver who was just learning to drive. He smiled and said, ‘You are right.’
In any situation we cannot compromise with merit, much more in this technological age. Who would offer himself even a minor appendix surgery by an inexperienced doctor or get an expensive car repaired by a novice? Some years ago the MBOSE used to publish a separate merit list of tribal students. This has unconsciously created an inferiority complex as if our tribal students cannot compete with the general students. Luckily they have abandoned the practice. Going at this rate a time will come when we will select the state football team or the cricket team on reservation and quota system which will be the laughing stock of the country.
To sum it all, after 50 years of statehood let us do away with the Reservation Policy. We can reserve some legal percentages to people with disabilities and minority non-tribals of the state. The rest should be on open competition based purely on merit. Period.
Yours etc.,
Torist Mark,
Via email
Quality child care the need of the hour
Editor,
The news report on Quality Child Care (ST March 29, 2023) referring to a consultation organised by North East Network (NEN) in collaboration with SEWA and other well-intentioned organisations has not come a day too late. The reality is that Anganwadi centres are not functioning well in our State and even in the city of Shillong, forget about rural areas. In fact, these centres have been created for the well-being of children whose mothers are forced to go to work to make ends meet. But even if women are not in dire straits they still need to work so that they are economically independent. It is true that there are a few creches run by local women’s organisations but even there the care takers are not trained to deal with children and to engage with the kids in the way that happens in play schools where the care takers are trained to talk to kids and provide them some intellectual stimulation because as psychologists would tell us, children are born ready to learn, and have many skills to learn over many years. They depend on parents, family members, and other caregivers as their first teachers to develop the right skills to become independent and lead healthy and successful lives.
We are told that how the brain grows is strongly affected by the child’s experiences with other people and the world. Nurturing care for the mind is critical for brain growth. Children grow and learn best in a safe environment where they are protected from neglect and from extreme or chronic stress with plenty of opportunities to play and explore.
Parents and other caregivers can support healthy brain growth by speaking to, playing with, and caring for their child. Children learn best when parents take turns to talk to their kids and play with them. In so doing they build on their child’s skills and interests. Nurturing a child by understanding their needs and responding sensitively helps to protect children’s brains from stress. Speaking with children and exposing them to books, stories, and songs helps strengthen children’s language and communication, which puts them on a path towards learning and succeeding in school.
Exposure to stress and trauma can have long-term negative consequences for the child’s brain, whereas talking, reading, and playing can stimulate brain growth. Ensuring that parents, caregivers, and early childhood care providers have the resources and skills to provide safe, stable, nurturing, and stimulating care is an important public health goal.
When children are at risk, tracking children’s development and making sure they reach developmental milestones can help ensure that any problems are detected early and children can receive the intervention they may need. We read and learn all of the above in colleges and universities but we also come from a society where parents don’t consider talking to a child to be an important milestone in their lives. We Khasis are not used to talking to babies because we think they don’t understand what we are telling them and cannot respond. We actually don’t know what goes on in the child’s mind.
I would request NEN and like-minded NGOs to hold some sessions for uneducated mothers and especially young mothers to explain to them that it is so important to have conversations with their kids and provide them a safe space at home. We truly need more creches – a need that has never been given much attention to by the government and other NGOs. There will be a sea change in the cognitive development of the child if such a supportive and educative environment is provided at this tender formative stages of its life.
Yours etc.,
Noleen Khongsit,
Via email