Writes: Bicky Sharma
As the hill youths we quickly realize that we are facing deliberate instances of discrimination and suppression, we also realize that we continue to be victimised and exploited to every single degree. We hold forth in the hopes of a state of our own, a panacea to all our problems, we see statehood as the ultimate solution to every problem. Though I agree that the statehood demand is our ultimate goal and we must throw every bit of effort for it, but what we forget are the different dimensions of our backwardness and the things that we can and we must attempt to change, with or without the statehood.
If we pen down all those dimensions, Education comes to the top of the list of things that we need to change. The most unfortunate thing that I feel today is that we lack a University for our Hills, without which an educated society is impossible to derive.
Why do we need an “educated society” to begin with? It’s easy to reckon, because once we have an educated generation blooming up, we have a better society and with a better society we can finally meet up to all our needs. As Nelson Mandela had quoted "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
But then things are quite different here. The wings of our youths are clipped off usually after graduations just because we don’t have a university of our own.
I do realise we have excellent students among us and they do secure admissions in good colleges and universities outside Darjeeling, and even Bengal. They obviously are our pride and social backbone. But let us not forget the remaining portion of our youths, those who may not score 1st class 1st in their colleges, in fact majority of the youths are made up of this group of people.
When we first enter college, it is a whole new different world for us and we are on the verge of learning many new things and all this happens with trial and error. We make mistakes, learn, set up our foundation of knowledge for life and we are yet to think about life seriously. By the time we start gaining seriousness; we often have completed our graduations and stand with a degree having good, average and below average marks. And hence begin our quest for admissions. That is true for most of us. We explore different universities for further studies and try to get a spot for ourselves. After A handful get absorbed by these universities, the remaining look upon at NBU as a final ray of hope, the saviour. But then hundreds of colleges under NBU and a limited number of seats. It’s not NBU's fault either, a single river cannot quench thirst above its limit.
Now the ones strained out by NBU stand with gloomy eyes and a sour heart. The passion is there, the hunger is there. But there is no Opportunity.
Think about someone who scored 59% in Physics and did not get admission in M Sc in NBU, but got admission in Kalyani University and yet couldn’t go, as his single mother who works in a tea garden could not afford to pay his fees and study expenses, when she has to look after his two siblings and earns only Rs 95 per day.
That is enough to realise how deprived we are just because we don’t have a University of our own. I know the merits of having a university are profound and what I am listing may be one of the least important ones, however this is something that all of us have had to face – us those who are from the margins.
Many good students from our own hills let go of their opportunity to study as going away to a different place to study goes beyond our financial boundaries. The fire that just started burning dies a slow death. Even those who manage to get enrolled to universities in other places go through many hardships to complete their education outside home.
Students with good marks fail to make space in between and end up losing their hopes and aspirations.
I request all of you to join hands to demand the formation of Darjeeling Central University – which will lay the foundation of a resurgent society. The whole idea is to prevent the pen in the hands to be replaced by drugs and booze. The whole idea is of giving our own youths a space to study. The whole idea is to replace the frustrations by happiness.
The whole idea is of having our own Central University at our own home, so that no individual who wants to pursue higher education is left at the mercy of one university [NBU] which caters to seven districts in North Bengal
Source: TheDC
As the hill youths we quickly realize that we are facing deliberate instances of discrimination and suppression, we also realize that we continue to be victimised and exploited to every single degree. We hold forth in the hopes of a state of our own, a panacea to all our problems, we see statehood as the ultimate solution to every problem. Though I agree that the statehood demand is our ultimate goal and we must throw every bit of effort for it, but what we forget are the different dimensions of our backwardness and the things that we can and we must attempt to change, with or without the statehood.
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| Student protest rally in Darjeeling, from 2011 |
Why do we need an “educated society” to begin with? It’s easy to reckon, because once we have an educated generation blooming up, we have a better society and with a better society we can finally meet up to all our needs. As Nelson Mandela had quoted "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
But then things are quite different here. The wings of our youths are clipped off usually after graduations just because we don’t have a university of our own.
I do realise we have excellent students among us and they do secure admissions in good colleges and universities outside Darjeeling, and even Bengal. They obviously are our pride and social backbone. But let us not forget the remaining portion of our youths, those who may not score 1st class 1st in their colleges, in fact majority of the youths are made up of this group of people.
When we first enter college, it is a whole new different world for us and we are on the verge of learning many new things and all this happens with trial and error. We make mistakes, learn, set up our foundation of knowledge for life and we are yet to think about life seriously. By the time we start gaining seriousness; we often have completed our graduations and stand with a degree having good, average and below average marks. And hence begin our quest for admissions. That is true for most of us. We explore different universities for further studies and try to get a spot for ourselves. After A handful get absorbed by these universities, the remaining look upon at NBU as a final ray of hope, the saviour. But then hundreds of colleges under NBU and a limited number of seats. It’s not NBU's fault either, a single river cannot quench thirst above its limit.
Now the ones strained out by NBU stand with gloomy eyes and a sour heart. The passion is there, the hunger is there. But there is no Opportunity.
Think about someone who scored 59% in Physics and did not get admission in M Sc in NBU, but got admission in Kalyani University and yet couldn’t go, as his single mother who works in a tea garden could not afford to pay his fees and study expenses, when she has to look after his two siblings and earns only Rs 95 per day.
That is enough to realise how deprived we are just because we don’t have a University of our own. I know the merits of having a university are profound and what I am listing may be one of the least important ones, however this is something that all of us have had to face – us those who are from the margins.
Many good students from our own hills let go of their opportunity to study as going away to a different place to study goes beyond our financial boundaries. The fire that just started burning dies a slow death. Even those who manage to get enrolled to universities in other places go through many hardships to complete their education outside home.
Students with good marks fail to make space in between and end up losing their hopes and aspirations.
I request all of you to join hands to demand the formation of Darjeeling Central University – which will lay the foundation of a resurgent society. The whole idea is to prevent the pen in the hands to be replaced by drugs and booze. The whole idea is of giving our own youths a space to study. The whole idea is to replace the frustrations by happiness.
The whole idea is of having our own Central University at our own home, so that no individual who wants to pursue higher education is left at the mercy of one university [NBU] which caters to seven districts in North Bengal
Source: TheDC
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