Conflict & Education in Manipur

Manipur is one of the North Eastern-most states of India, bordering Myanmar (Burma) in the east, and three Indian States – Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram in the north, west and south respectively. It was an independent Kingdom and merged/annexed to Indian union in 1949. The state is endowed with rich natural resources and has a long history of geo-political development in South East Asia and divided into two parts, inhabited broadly by two communities– Meitei (generally known as Manipuri) in the valley (concentrated in 10% of state’s total land area) and tribes in the hill (spread over 90% of state’s total area). Small area of valley (10% of state’s area) is surrounded by hills which consist of 90% of the state’s total geographical area. The latter community is the confederation of 33 recognised and other non-recognised tribes. Unfortunately, at present, the State is passing through different social turmoil, ethnic violence and social upheavals. It includes insurgency for secession to the movement for greater autonomy, intra to inter-ethnic clashes and fight over resources. Frequent eruption of violence and conflict that arises from the different ethnic communities in search of and to assert their identities disturb educational environment in the State.
In Manipur, irrespective of the persistent stirring of violence and conflict, the literacy rate has increased substantially for both males and females across the areas over the last two decades. When compared to the national trend, growth trend of literacy rate in the last two decades, particularly for the rural area is highly appreciable. Despite poor road and communication infrastructure, people of Manipur have shown great enthusiasm in acquiring higher education. The performance of women on education especially in the rural area is very significant and is much higher than the national level. The literacy rate in Manipur on the eve of country’s independence was much lower than the national level. Thereafter, it has constantly increased from 13 per cent (13 literates per 100 persons) in 1951 to 80 per cent in 2011. The growth of literacy rate in the state registered was higher than the national level. Within the state, the growth rate of educational development in rural and tribal districts has gone up significantly in the last decade, probably due to English education in the area.
The on-going unrest in Manipur has hampered the daily lives of many beyond imagination. It has disrupted many lives, especially of school students and college students. The clashes that erupted in the state have forced many to flee the strife-torn state while others, especially children are forced to stay within the four walls of their houses. The harsh conditions in the state have impacted education in the state as many schools, educational institutes were forced to shut down for a significantly long duration. Due to the on-going violence in the state, over 14,000 schoolchildren have been displaced, the Ministry of Education stated. In the Rajya Sabha on August 2. Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said “A total of 14,763 school-going children have been displaced due to the current Manipur situation.”
The violence has severely disrupted the education system in Manipur, affecting thousands of students, teachers and staff. Many students flee to restart their studies, while many important national-level exams were also cancelled in the state. Due to the violence, the state government extended the summer vacation for schools & frequent closures as well as ban on internet services affects badly the academic activities of the students because of frequent unrest for one reason or other from time to time. Out of 4,617 schools in the state, 96 were being used for relief measures and other purposes. As a result, students missed out on their academic activities and social interactions for months and months. During the clashes in May 2023 many schools were burned and damaged, reduced to ashes. The schools were reopened but witnessed very low attendance as students, teachers and staff did not show up due to fear and insecurity. Following the reopening of schools and colleges, due to inadequate resources, daily education faced challenges. Most importantly, the violence has left a deep impact on the mental health of the students who witnessed or experienced it. Many students are traumatized by the loss of their homes, friends or relatives and are unable to focus on their studies.
Literature and evidences show that there is a negative effect of violent conflict on the human capital of individuals particularly among the children and women, due to their vulnerability. Violent conflict, that is destructive, may affect the level and distribution of returns to education considerably. It results in deaths, injuries, disability and psychological trauma to a physical body; and have an adverse effect to economic and social well-being apart from political instability. But, on other side, in Manipur, as depicted above, it seems the growth of education was not affected by the conflicts. How is that possible when the state was plagued with blockades and strikes for months and months? A preliminary result says that the students moved out of the State for study.
It is revealed that the law and order condition (conflicts) is the most important factor that pushes the students out of the State for their study. Though there are many factors which influenced the Manipuri people for going out of the State for their studies, thirty students out of the fifty-two (57.7 percent) revealed that the frequent violence and blockades disrupted their studies in Manipur, and compelled them to come out of the state for their study. When we look at the variables like, limited educational infrastructure and quality of teaching in the State, they are found to be unimportant factors on the student’s decision to come out of the State. Next to conflict, 15.4 per cent of respondents revealed that lack of educational infrastructure compelled them to come out of the state for their study. In the third position, 13.5 per cent of respondents revealed that low quality of higher education in the state is also a factor for their departure from Manipur. Almost 58 per cent of the students are coming out of Manipur for their studies primarily due to law and order condition within the state.
Seeing the trend of global damages created by conflict and wars, it calls for an urgent initiative to resolve conflict in any society, including Manipur. Therefore, controlling or resolving conflict has become the need of the hour. Universal experiences have shown that a fruitful dialogue or negotiation often brings peace and it can often be materialised only when people (stakeholders) are well educated and believed in ethics and morality. Dialogue does not mean that one’s grievance or demand is tabled for negotiation and stick onto it. One should have an understanding of the others’ need and constraints. The root cause of the conflict should be understood before conflict resolution initiatives are taken up.
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