TEZPUR, May 23 - �One of the many shortcomings of Assam, which no one seems to care about, is the perennial brain drain witnessed over the last many decades, that is seemingly increasing its pace now-a-days. Before playing the blame game, let us take a moment to consider the state of affairs these days.�
The above was observed by the Vice Chancellor of Tezpur University, Prof (Dr) Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri while taking part in an interactive programme with the students, intellectuals, media fraternity and noted academicians here on Sunday.
The noted academician, who was invited to the historic Baan Theatre here by various social organisations for a felicitation programme, further observed that for better education the students� community needs a better educational environment. Bandh, strikes etc., hamper education. If we devote our time in these acts, we will lose valuable properties of our life.
�Health, education and employment are the three major mantras of the Union HRD Ministry. And taking these mantras as a base, institutions like Tezpur University and other premier universities across the country have been working for the nation�s development. This was conveyed to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi many times, but has till date remained a fruitless effort on our part.�
He hoped that the new State Government will give priority to these issues. Speaking about the connectivity problem in the region, he also said that due to the poor connectivity like lack of air and railway services, despite getting better exposure in Tezpur University, students from outside do not want to come for their education here. �This is a great challenge for us, but we will have to turn it into an expectation,� he said.
Criticising the education system and defective curriculum that have been prevalent in Assam over the years, he further said that students must be given quality syllabus, otherwise we can never expect any good feedback from them and we will not have any right to blame them for their poor performance in any sphere. Rather, it will be like cheating them.
�And as a result of all this, we are now facing a brain drain of Assam students. Our language and culture, education system, economy and many more are the first to be affected by this. Around Rs 180 to 200 crore cash goes out of Assam as thousands of brilliant students go out for higher and quality education. If we could absorb these students in our own land by providing quality education, then employment generation would no longer be a problem here,� he said and added that institutions like Manipal University are becoming better than institutions like JNU, IIT etc., in the field of technical education.
Stressing on quality education, he also said in his discourse that until and unless the students are imparted quality education, the dream of overall development of a nation can never be fulfilled. Moreover, citing example of the education system of advanced countries like USA, Japan and Germany, he also said that only 25 pc education is looked after by the Government, while 75 pc is maintained by private sector institutions in these countries. �Therefore, these countries are always ahead in education, thereby being able to grab a worldwide network. India too must re-think in this regard,� he said.
Referring to the governance in West Bengal, he said that people of West Bengal have no bitter experience of load-shedding while people of States like Assam have to suffer from long hours of load-shedding every day. �Yet I am hopeful that the new Government will address these issues in the greater interest of the common people, thereby guiding the State into a developed one. Cooperation between the State and the Centre will be more useful in this case,� he maintained.
The interactive programme was conducted by Tezpur Sahitya Sabha Secretary, Pankaj Baruah and presided over by the president of the literary body, Hemanta Baruah.
