Editor,
I would like to submit a rejoinder to my article titled “Is Meghalaya football ready to take the next step?” (ST Oct 21, 2025), I realized that there were a few factual errors in the piece that I would like to correct for the benefit of readers.
The last player to be selected for the Indian national team was not Eugeneson Lyngdoh, but Samuel James Lyngdoh Kynshi.
The men’s team played against the Maldives and Bangladesh, not the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
The correct name of the academy mentioned in my article is Lah Bet FC, not Lab Bet FC.
Yours etc.,
Bhogtoram Mawroh,
Via email
Medical clinics must stop exploiting poor patients
Editor,
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I wish to voice a public grievance concerning the unethical exploitation of poor patients by some private medical practitioners. Recently, my neighbour from a lower middle-class family went to a dental clinic near Last Stop, Laban, Shillong, for a simple tooth extraction. At the reception, he was asked to pay Rs 500 upfront and fill out a form, which is standard practice. However, what followed was deeply disturbing. The entire procedure to extract a lateral incisor, including a local anesthetic injection, was completed in under 15 minutes. Since a root canal wasn’t feasible in his case, extraction was the only option. To his shock, he was then asked to pay an additional Rs2,500, bringing the total to Rs3,000 for a single-tooth extraction. He was left distressed, having paid so much money, and he told me everything in detail. I also found it to be nothing short of daylight robbery.
Out of frustration, we checked with a few other dental clinics in town. Most charge between Rs700 and Rs1000 for similar procedures. It is only a handful of unscrupulous establishments that seem intent on fleecing unsuspecting patients, especially the poor and uneducated.
If Rs3,000 is demanded for a basic extraction, one shudders to imagine the cost of more complex treatments like root canals, dentures, or crowns. Such practices not only violate ethical standards but also undermine the very spirit of medical service. Many young people in our town are without jobs, so this kind of medical exploitation only adds to their distress.
I sincerely appeal to the concerned authorities such as the District Administration, Health Department, and Social Welfare Department, to take immediate and decisive action against not just the dental clinics but also the mushrooming general nursing homes and hospitals that adopt various means to extort money from innocent, poor citizens. Random inspections and transparent pricing norms must be enforced to protect vulnerable citizens from such commercialized exploitation. I am writing this column to raise awareness in the public interest.
Yours etc.,
V. Sharma
Via email
Are teachers scapegoats of a failed system?
Editor,
This refers to your thought-provoking editorial “Education Not a Political Football” (Oct 21, 2025). It raises a painful but an inevitable question — why should teachers who consistently fail to produce learning outcomes continue in service? The question is valid, yet it needs to be answered with both honesty and heart.
Every teacher steps into a classroom with hope — not for wealth or power, but to shape young minds. However, the system often fails the teacher long before the teacher fails the students. In overcrowded classrooms, without proper teaching aids or emotional support, even the most devoted educator can lose energy and inspiration. UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (2021) reminds us that teacher performance improves dramatically when schools provide good infrastructure, smaller classes, and timely training. A teacher’s will to teach is strengthened by the system’s will to support.
At the same time, we cannot ignore the need for strict standards. Recruitment must be based not just on certificates but on passion and aptitude. A person without love for children, patience for learning, or vision for growth has no place in a classroom. Regular monitoring, mentoring, and transparent appraisal must become part of the culture — not as instruments of fear, but as mirrors for improvement. Accountability, if humane and fair, can renew the dignity of teaching.
But education is a shared journey. Parents, communities, and the government all walk alongside the teacher. A 2021 study on Teacher Accountability and Work Identities in Indian Schools found that many teachers fail not because they don’t care, but because they feel unseen, unheard, and unsupported. Another study on Community-Based Accountability in Rural India (Galab et al., 2013) showed that when parents and local bodies participate actively, children’s learning improves remarkably.
Teachers should not become the easy scapegoats for systemic failure. The real reform lies in ensuring adequate teaching staff, essential resources, and strong infrastructure at the foundation level — the stage where learning habits and curiosity are first built. If the foundation is strong, we will not have to worry much about the later part of schooling; both teachers and students will grow on firmer ground.
Real reform will begin when we stop blaming and start belonging — when every parent, policymaker, and teacher feels equally responsible for every child’s dream. Let accountability be not a whip, but a wake-up call; not a threat, but a shared promise to make our schools places of light, not despair.
Yours etc.,
Jairaj
Via email
