IMPHAL, Sep 23: The Thadou Students’ Association has submitted a memorandum to the state education minister L Jayentakumar Singh on September 14 appealing for educational reforms in Chandel district.
The memorandum has submitted that the lack of school infrastructure, building and teaching materials and furniture has left most of the existing schools of the district in general and of Thadou Kuki areas in particular defunct.
Lack of regularized Head Master/mistress in the junior high school of the said areas, negligence on the part of ZEO, DI and AI in co-coordinating with its branches/schools, irregular payment of salary of the staffs and occupation of the school buildings by other government authority were some of the other reasons which have left certain schools like the Yanglen Tinkangphai Jr High School, Sajik Tampak Jr High School, New Samtal Jr High School, Bongli Jr High School, and Tollen Jr High School defunct.
It has also furnished that engagement of many of the school teachers as CRPs and BRPs under the SSA project schools in the said areas has also led to acute shortage of faculties in the schools. It has further called upon the minister to look into the irregularities regarding the distribution of Mid Day Meal for the past three months since April.
Alleging various other irregularities in the running of the education department in the district, the memorandum has called upon the state education minister to bring the needed reforms in the department in public interest.
It has requested the minister to provide proper infrastructure including school building, teaching materials and appointment of adequate teaching and non teaching staffs and to regularize the Head Master in the Jr High Schools.
It has also requested for regular payment of salary to the staff of every school, regular and adequate provision of food grains for Mid Day Scheme in every schools.
Furthermore, the memorandum has also requested the education minister to re-engage the CRPs and BRPs as regular teaching staff back in their respective schools and fresh recruitment of the required CRPs and BRPs.
It has also called for stringent action against LR Koireng, DI, and L Priyokumar, AI of ZEO Chandel, who the students association has alleged to have misappropriated 40 percent of food grant meant for Mid Day meal of schools.
It has further stated that certain NGOs were entrusted by the ZEO Chandel under the SSA project with the payment of honorarium of AIE’s in different government schools. However the NGOs entrusted with the work namely Rural Education and Action for change Manipur (REACH-M) Nungourok, Machi Block, Chandel, Nungphura Village Development Society (NUDS), Nungphura village, Chandel, Tribal Area Environmental and Cultural Organization, Nungourok Machi Block, Chandel, Manipur Association of Social Sciences (MASS) Keishampat have failed to distribute the honorarium since 2006. And as such the NGOs should be made to pay the honorarium and in case the NGOs fail to do so the concerned government should pay.
