Manipur violence affects studies of thousands, including medical students
IMPHAL: The devastating ethnic violence in Manipur has badly affected the studies of students of various standards, and the resumption of their normal learning is still uncertain. Over 65,000 men, women, and children were displaced by the ethnic violence and took shelter in 350 relief camps in various districts of Manipur and neighbouring Mizoram, Nagaland, and Assam. According to the latest information, over 12,100 people took shelter in Mizoram, around 2,000 in Nagaland, and over 1200 in the Cachar district of southern Assam. Mizoram's Kolasib district, along with Assam, hosts the largest number of 4,400 displaced people, followed by Aizawl and Saitual districts with around 4,000 and 3,000, respectively. While 9,065 displaced people are staying with their relatives and friends or living in rented houses across the state, over 3,000 people are lodged in 35 relief camps in Mizoram's 11 districts. Of the over 12,100 people who took shelter in Mizoram, over 1,500 displaced students from Manipur have already been admitted to schools in Mizoram.
Manipur's Director of Education (School), L. Nandakumar Singh, said schools would resume normal classes in violence-hit Manipur on July 1 instead of June 21, as announced earlier. He said that all zonal education officials under the Department of Education have been directed to inform all the concerned people and take the necessary action. Earlier, the department announced that normal classes would resume on June 21. After July 1, considering the law and order situation, the classes for the remaining standards up to college level will be resumed in a phased manner.
Manipur has 4,617 schools, and out of these, relief camps for the displaced and accommodation for the central forces were organised in around 100 schools. The state government has been trying to make alternative arrangements for the inmates of the relief camps and the security forces so that the students are not affected, an official of the Education Department said. Officials said that around 6,000 students of various standards have been displaced due to the ethnic violence that hit the state on May 3.
Education Minister Bashanta Singh had said earlier that the department is taking steps for the welfare of the affected students. "Study materials like notebooks, pens, pencils, sports material, and uniforms will be provided to the displaced students," he had said, adding that volunteer teachers will be deputed for the students staying in the relief camps to organise coaching classes. Singh had said that the transfer of displaced students studying in Classes 9-12 to schools of their choice will be allowed, provided seats are available. "If seats are not available in the selected school, arrangements will be made in other nearby schools," said Singh, adding that those who live in far-flung areas will be provided with gadgets like tablets for distance learning.
Offline classes for the first-year MBBS students of Churachandpur Medical College are being conducted both at the college and the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal. Amidst the ethnic violence, students of Churachandpur Medical College, expressing fear, had earlier demanded that the state government provide a secure place to continue their studies.
Churachandpur Medical College Director S. Iboyaima Singh said that responding to the Manipur government's request and considering the prevailing law and order situation in the state, the National Medical Commission (Undergraduate Medical Education Board) has permitted the classes (offline) for the 1st year MBBS students of the Medical College both at the government-run Medical Colleges, JNIMS in Imphal and the Medical College campus at Churachandpur. This practise would continue until the situation in the state returns to normal, Singh said in a notification. The first batch of students is pursuing their first-year MBBS course at the newly set-up medical college, inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 6 this year. Of the total 100 students, around 60 hail from the valley regions of Manipur.
After the ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, hundreds of students, government employees, and other people belonging to seven northeastern and other states of the country were rescued by their state governments after making special arrangements. Hundreds of students from all the northeastern and other states have been studying at the Imphal-based Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Central Agricultural University (CAU), and other Central government-run institutions.
The RIMS, CAU, and other Manipur-based, centrally managed institutions are now intermittently conducting online classes, but these studies, according to the affected students, are inadequate compared to the normal offline classes. (IANS)
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