Condemning the pathetic situation of government schools in the state, six student bodies have demanded the state government to mend up all the necessities which are presently required in newly upgraded government schools of Manipur.
A press conference was held on Friday jointly called by Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Students Union of Kangleipak (SUK), Manipuri Students’ Federation (MSF), Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA), Apunba Ireipakki Maheiroi Singpanglup (AIMS) and All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) at the office of MSF in this regard.
During the press briefing, general secretary of MSF, Hijam Roshan said that owing to COVID-19 pandemic, the state government promoted all the class X students and then, to prevent the consequences of imbalance admission seat, the state government upgraded nine schools to higher secondary standard on August 27, 2021. But the authorities concerned failed to improve the infrastructure and faculties on par with its upgradation level in some of the schools, Roshan said.
He informed that volunteers of the said student bodies had inspected two schools, Praja Higher Secondary School and Khongampat Higher Secondar School, which were upgraded last year. The schools were in a deplorable condition as there was acute shortage of teachers and lack of proper infrastructure, he added.
He continued that both the schools have science streams but that there were no adequate science laboratory rooms nor equipment to do practical work while most of the students in the schools opted science stream. “How can students pursue quality education when all such basic requirements are not provided? Our students will obviously lag behind in this competitive world if the systems continuously go like this,” he said.
Roshan alleged that in their inspection visit, the team came across teachers of the high schools taking classes for higher secondary due to shortage of teachers. Apart from this, in Khongampat Higher Secondary School, the school teachers hired teachers for higher secondary on contract basis with their own expenses, he asserted.
While drawing attention of the state government, he said that though education is the backbone of the society, any government who comes to power usually neglects this sector. It is high time that the state government give due attention considering human resource is key to bring development at a fast pace, he said.
