By Bhogtoram Mawroh
A good friend of mine enjoys collecting vintage storybooks that he read as a child. These include classic stories like Moby Dick by Herman Melville and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. He discovered them at a website offering vintage books at reduced prices. His excitement about collecting these vintage books stems from a nostalgia for the time when he used to borrow them from the school library. He was staying in the hostel, where after a certain time, the warden would walk around to ensure that no one was awake past their bedtime. To avoid detection, he would cover himself with a blanket and use a torch to read late into the night. This way, he finished reading many books. It’s a very charming story and I am sure many would have similar stories to share. My story, however, is a little different.
The school I attended was a village school on the outskirts of Shillong. It was a Catholic school and one of the better ones in the area. My memory of the time there, however, was a mixed one and one incident has remained with me for a long time. During one class, our teacher reminded us to ensure that our parents paid our fees on time. I stood up and asked the teacher why we were paying library fees when we had no library in the school. The teacher scolded me, asking me to sit down and never ask such questions again. I sat down promptly, and that was the last time I ever asked questions about the lack of facilities at the school.
Despite being founded in the early ‘80s, the school had only one student in its almost 20-year history who achieved a first class. That student was our immediate senior. It was his high marks in mathematics that enabled him to cross the 60% threshold. We were all impressed by this achievement and looked forward eagerly to our own results the following year. But it turned out to be a disaster. Everyone got third division, while I managed a second division—just missing first class by a few marks. As was common in those days, around the same time, a couple of my friends ran away from home and eloped. One of them became pregnant, and I remember going with some school friends to visit her at her home in Polo.
After my matriculation, I was eligible for admission to either St. Edmund’s or Shillong College. At the time, I didn’t know which college was better, but I had heard rumours about ragging at Shillong College. Feeling uneasy, I chose to enroll at St. Edmund’s—and that’s where I met the friend I mentioned earlier. He had studied at St. Edmund’s School and joined the college after his matriculation. We were among the first batches to become co-ed, and it was during our undergraduate course that female students sat with us in the same class for the first time. This also meant that some of the jokes our teachers used to tell in class became forbidden.
My days in college were the most memorable. I had a lot of fun, but I enjoyed my studies as well. The library was excellent, and I remember spending a lot of time there, especially during exams. Although my honours subject was Geography, I would pore over history books in the library. I particularly remember one on the Sangam Period, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The teachers were outstanding, and there was healthy competition among us to see who would be on the podium at graduation. Being in a good educational institution helped me immensely. I nearly made it into the top 10 in the Higher Secondary Exams, and during my graduation, I secured the second rank in the entire state. Then, during my Master’s at NEHU, I finally got my Gold Medal. I attribute my success to St. Edmund’s College, which is the best college in Meghalaya—and arguably one of the best in the Northeast. Had I gone to any other college, I might not have achieved the distinctions I did. I realised this after completing my master’s degree!
I had a few months before I could apply for my PhD. I joined a college in Nongthymmai during the interim period. Because my marks were good, they were thrilled to hire me for my first ever job: teaching Geography to Pre-University students. My salary was Rs. 2000 per month, which was grossly low even by the standards of those days. But there were colleges which paid lesser than that. So, teachers would teach in more than one college to earn a decent salary. Suffice to say, none of these colleges, including the one I was working in, produced any students with distinction. Since I was looking to fill my time before starting my PhD, I didn’t complain. However, it was after completing my PhD that I truly felt the impact of the low salary and difficult working conditions that plague the education sector.
After my PhD, I wanted to go for my Post-Doc. But the applications were a year later since I got my degree a little late and I needed a job during the interregnum period. I applied to a couple of places and eventually got a teaching position in Arunachal Pradesh. With my luggage in tow, I left Shillong and reached the college shortly thereafter. When I arrived, I was in for a surprise.
The salary was a little higher than the stipend I was receiving during my PhD. And since the college had assured me, they would look after my accommodation, I was confident that I could survive on the salary. However, I was shocked to find out that the accommodation they provided me was a class near the Girls’ bathroom. They provided me with a bed, a table, and a fan in a room filled with desks and benches. Since it had a blackboard, I would practice my lessons on it before the next day’s class. In the morning, I had to finish bathing and relieving myself before the students arrived. And I could only use the bathroom again after the students had left. But accommodation was not the only problem.
Text books were not enough for teaching the course and I had got used to downloading materials online and using videos for the lessons. However, the internet was very unreliable and one had to go to the town to get a good connection. That itself was more than half an hour away. Worst of all, there were no Kong Shops where I could have tea.
I taught for a few months and made some wonderful friends. But the lack of accommodation and materials for teaching, coupled with homesickness, made my stay very uncomfortable. Finally, I asked the principal—a kind priest—to relieve me of my position so I could return home. It took some time to get over the shame of having given up, but eventually, I found another job in Shillong.
Recently, I received the draft of the People’s Education Policy 2025: An Alternative to the NEP 2020 for review from the Meghalaya Chapter of the All India Save Education Committee (AISEC). I offered a few comments but agreed with most of its points, especially those concerning improved teaching quality and school infrastructure, particularly for children from disadvantaged communities. There is mention of improving the working conditions of teachers, which was quite welcome. Of course, a policy document like this will not include stories of teachers’ and students’ experiences about their aspirations for a better life. However, it can outline steps to help achieve that, and in that regard, I find the draft quite useful. On 22nd May 2025, the AISEC Draft People’s Education Policy was released for consultation at the Shillong Press Club, and I had the honour of being part of the team that launched it. I hope the common public will engage and help refine it. Education is a serious business, but it must never become a business. I hope this proposed policy will help prevent that and make providing and receiving education a more humane experience.
(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution)