By Dominick Dauni Roising Rymbai
The heading of the column, “Are tribal students incapable of learning Mathematics & Science?” by Patricia Mukhim (ST September 15, 2023) hits real hard at the heart and the mind too. Just reading the caption of the article makes one question if our indigenous tribal students suffer from a mass deficiency in the Arts of Maths & Science. One agrees with the writer that basic Maths & Science, at least till Class 10, are adequate for one’s holistic education. We are indeed living in a technology-driven world and Maths & Science have a role in our daily personal and professional lives.
In the early 1990s, the Maths teacher Khliehriat High School was Babu (Late) Louis Swer, fondly addressed as Bu-Loa by his students. Books were written in English but most explanations were in Pnar. English, with its grammar and multiple meanings of the same word, can be one difficult language. One memory that remains of the teacher was when he would depute some of his more advanced students to help the weaker ones, in the post-class hours. He was humble enough to understand that perhaps peer-to-peer learning, without the fear of ‘public’ humiliation, was better for the weaker students. The result was minimal failure in Maths in his classes. And no student would ever forget the rational-minded Science teacher, sir (pronounced as saar) Shakti, whose Science classes were always full to the brim. To his annoyance and also his happiness at the feedback, while asking questions or giving replies in his classes, some of the students would often mimic his thick South-Indian accented Pnar and English.
Finishing off high school in Kiddies’ Corner, Shillong, the writer has fond memories of the amazing Maths & Science teacher Late Ms Urmila Basu. At 10+2 (Science) in St Anthony’s College (SAC), Shillong, one recalls respectfully the recently deceased Physics Professor, Bah James Blah. He was so good at simplifying the concepts of Physics that 10+2 Science students, from the neighbouring colleges in Laitumkhrah and Greater Shillong area, would actually go for VIP recommendations to get a place in his limited-seats Tuition classes. Of course he always had a soft corner for his students from SAC. Due credit to the late Professor for helping me secure distinction marks in Physics, and college-topping marks, at the HSSLC examination 2000.
The first criterion is for students themselves to develop an interest in Maths & Science (M&S); this can happen at the foundations of learning the 3 R’s of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Next is for teachers to encourage the intellectual development of the students in M&S. Often, , good teachers can actually kindle the students’ interest in the subjects and also perform well academically. Sadly, today teachers are under intense pressure to complete the syllabus within the academic calendar. The end result is that students have just a basic idea of most concepts without in-depth understanding of the subjects. Ultimately, the application of those concepts at the Board exams, especially at the National-level competitive exams, becomes very difficult. Of course, it’s another story for those who can afford the fees of the coaching factories and for-profit educational consultants. Patricia Mukhim got it very right when she mentioned that our problem as a society is that we don’t seek out those who can motivate our younger generation to break new paths and scale new heights in M&S. One person that comes to mind is Bah Loniak Marbaniang. In 1980-81, he topped his course at the deemed university International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai – a one of its kind institution in the world, with accreditations to the United Nations and other top world universities. His professors at IIPS called him for an oral interview to verify his written marks. They were genuinely shocked that a tribal student, born and raised in Mawngap, Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, could top the examination in spite of the presence of brilliant students from other well-known colleges and universities of the country. As a Mathematics Professor at St. Anthony’s College Shillong and later at NEHU, he had a reputation of zero failure among his students. After a stint in our state’s electoral politics and at 60-plus years of age, he finally earned his Ph.D. from IIPS in 2004.
As a society, it’s important to inculcate the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as not just subjects for the nerds of the class or for job-oriented professional courses. In St. Anthony’s College of the 2000s, the ‘cool’ students were those who took up English Literature with the hipsters of Mass Communications Department rivalling them for attention. The Physical & Life Sciences were at the other end of the cool spectrum. And Commerce and the Social Sciences were somewhere in the middle. No doubt a Liberal Arts education is important. However, in this era of the inter-disciplinary approach of the National Education Policy 2020, STEM subjects with a tinge of Liberal Arts would enable a holistic education.
Our former President and missile scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam loved playing the veena. And Maths & Science and Music do have a connection. In school, the tuning of a fork is used as an example to measure the frequency of sound. There’s a fable of Pythagoras, of the famous triangle theorem, who discovered a simple mathematical relationship between a blacksmith’s hammer and hammering sounds of harmony and discord. The hammers that produce harmony were those with masses that were exact ratios of one another. The forgotten Transcendentalist Margaret Fuller asserted that all truth is comprised in music and mathematics.
The recent success of the paisa vasool Chandrayaan-3 Mission that landed in the south pole of the moon should be widely celebrated. We achieved what other very high-income countries failed. The scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), with their passion and love of Space Technology, should be given the same respect and adulation as bestowed on other rockstars in the fields of sports, performing and fine arts, literature and politics. Perhaps, then, we will have an attitudinal change towards the STEM subjects. The world’s richest men like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos would gladly part with a few millions of their billions of US Dollars to recruit these passionate ISRO scientists for their space-tech companies. Enough money is necessary but money is not everything. The ISRO scientists chose passion and a national duty towards their country.
Looking back at one’s graduation process in the 2000s and the possibilities of the NEP 2020 today, this writer would have taken up Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business Economics. And perhaps, from fellow students, aspire to have a peer-to-peer learning in Coding. And if possible, as a hobby, try to steal a place in classes meant for sports medicine or films and music studies. Alas!
We cannot just hope and pray for a better future for our children and grand-children. STEM subjects as well as the Liberal Arts are important for the overall development of any child and youth. We owe our youth of today, a good, wholesome and sound education. It’s about living and practising the Fundamental Duties of our Constitution. It’s about aspiring to reach that heaven of freedom of Rabindranath Tagore. It’s about India, that is Bharat, being truly a developed nation by 2047.
PS: The writer’s capability in Maths & Science was formed at Fr. Tome Memorial School, Jowai and cemented at Khliehriat High School, a Don Bosco Institution. Views expressed are personal.
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