MitSna is a non-profit group working towards the development of holistic education for the youth. We aim towards the promotion of cooperation in the state and competition at the national and international levels. One of the key features is to prepare our youth for the challenges in the future by empowering them. In line with our primary goal, we introduced Massive Open Talk envisioned as MitSna’s MOT with the vision to not only increase the employability of our youth but also create a generation of employers and young entrepreneurs and over and above instill in them a sense of commitment to the society and logical and critical thinking. The event is organized every year.
MOT 2019: STREAMLINING EDUCATION FOR THE YOUTH
MitSna’s MOT (Massive Open Talk) 2019 was held at GM Hall, Imphal on the 14th of September 2019 on the theme of “Streamlining Education for the Youth”.
It cannot be denied that our youth in the schools and colleges are following an outdated form of education that does not address the individuals’ potential and capabilities. Education has become more of a low nutrient diet without the essential requirements with everyone accessing the same things regardless of their needs. The lack of aim and target in the system has created a mass of unemployed youths who do not have special skills for any specific job.
Amidst this scenario, Manipur has seen few people who stood out from the crowd and…
As Oja Dhanabir rightly said in many of his talks, the future belongs to the youth. A pertinent question is, who will be the next Oja Dhanabir? What made Oja Dhanabir who he is. We have over time seen some people breaking the barrier and doing the non-conventional leading to different unique ideas like Globizs, Medilane, etc., and future leaders. Is our current education system nurturing the minds to solve real-life practical problems or analyzing the question pattern and mugging up answers for them? Aren’t we curious to know how these ideas sprouted and become what they are today.?
We are taking up the task of putting everything on the table like a buffet, where anyone can choose what they would like to eat as per their need and choice. Unlike what is really happening in Manipur where only a few dishes are cooked and we have to eat them or starve. The main idea is not telling people what to eat, but showing what’s there to eat.
With MOT, we intended to bring to light the following issues: –
- The education system in our state has become quite rigid and outdated. Our teaching-learning process should be flexible enough to adapt to the changing pace of technology. As the internet continues to evolve, we need educators (efficient ones) on the platform.
- There is a need to de-stigmatize non-academic education and reinstate vocational training, art, music, and drama.
- We need to address the issue of ‘Education for the sake of education’. Several students are being forced into Medical and Engineering schools because there is an apparent perception in our state that they are the threshold for higher education. The linearity with which we approach higher studies has made the process tedious. We need to expand our horizons and branch out to other domains of learning. For example, there is the old age perception that Humanities and Arts streams are for the students who are not smart enough for Medical and Engineering students. We need to break this stereotype.
- The situation in Manipur is especially unfortunate as education isn’t failing for the rich because they have access to prestigious and fancy schools abroad. The poor are stuck and it is high time to change our focus from literacy to education.
- Manipuris have a reflexive tendency to accept an institution based on the name alone and this has compromised the quality of teaching and learning. The current education system is more focused on producing people who are only trained to crack exams leading to only a few professional streams. Institutionalization has affected secondary schools to a great extent.
- Putting an economic spin on education has turned education into a commodity. Even then, we are not doing it like the other states. We are not focused on business studies or commerce. We are only focused on preparing the kids for these standardized tests.
- We also need to address the elephant in the room. The entire system is lacking because of the subpar level of higher education. In the University, things like creativity and judgment are undervalued because classes that reinforce such values are being sidelined. It eventually turns into a rat race of students concerned only with jumping through hoops to make the professors happy.
- With these issues in mind, we, as a group, would like to bring awareness to the students in particular and the larger public in general.
The Speakers
Team MOT 2019
