A glimpse – Education in North East India

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More than a decade ago when my friends first walked into their class as engineering students at a premier engineering institute in Bangalore, the professor asked them what currency do they use in the North East. This is just one such instances that many of North East India still faces in places such as Delhi or Bangalore.

North East of India in my opinion has been ignored in many fronts and one of which is education. We have witnessed some improvement in the past few years; however, left a lot to be desired. Schools are not the cause but the lack of platform hereafter is the real issue – be it is higher education or career opportunities. The region is home to many international standard boarding and public sector schools and they provide high quality education up to 12th standard. Most of these schools follow ICSE, ISC and CBSE, which are of a decent standard. Students here are competent and pass out with a strong and impressive background which makes them competitive in all exams nationwide. It is the higher education that needs immediate scrutiny. We are far behind other universities and colleges in the country. It results in about 60% of the students migrating to another part of the country for better opportunities. A brain drain situation within the country!

I am not a crusader against students looking to study in places such as Delhi or Pune, what my concern is that it should not be a case of options. I strongly believe that many students will prefer to stay if they have the required infrastructure.

A survey of ten representatives, higher and technical education institutions of North Eastern States was conducted that reflected following facts:

• The syllabus has not been updated for more than 10 years in most of these institutions

• No or very few new courses have been added by these institutes to their initial programs, despite the fact that some new areas are emerging   where demand for trained Human Resources is high.

• Institute-Industry Interaction is almost non-existent

• Quality and quantity of qualified faculties are declining at an alarming rate

• Few efforts are made to ensure high ‘quality check’ through recognized agencies like NAAC or NBA accreditation, and where ever it is done,   it is not really followed in letter and spirit

• Compromises at the time of faculty selections are also made frequently due to the reluctance of qualified faculty to join institutions located in    remote places

• The majority of the Institutions was found low on Infrastructure

• Placement for students is a weak link for the majority of the institutionsAll is not gloom, few private universities have opened up around the region that promises quality higher education but they lack experience. These new institutions are working on a trial and error basis which might have proved fruitful in few cases. As the government thrives to bring globalization (world-class infrastructure and job opportunities) to the region, we can probably hope it augurs a change in the higher education system.