The name Nichima is familiar to a lot of people as a spot in the Chirang district, surrounded by a big, dense forest. If you head north from the town of Bongaigaon, you’ll come across Bhabanipur, Amguri, Koila Moila, Amteka, and Malivita in that order. The area stretches along a long, winding path, a dusty and sandy road, from the town up to Bhutan Hills.
On the way from the village to the city, sometimes a sick person gets worse and dies, and sometimes a woman has to give birth right on the road.
Across the river from Bengtol’s side are Ouguri, Patabari, and Amteka. The area is bordered by Bhutan to the north, Subhaijhar to the east, Khagrabari and Chapaguri to the south, and Bengtol and Tukrajhar to the west. Compared to all the surrounding areas, the Nichima region is behind in every aspect—transport, education, farming, culture, literature, economy, and politics. This is mainly because the Nichima region is behind in education.
The number of literate people is lower in the Nichima region compared to the other places mentioned. It’s hard to find enough schools and colleges for studying in this area. Basically, there still isn’t a college here. During elections, leaders and government officials visit if they feel like it, whether or not they’re welcomed… The border area is mostly ignored by politicians, leaders, and the government. After finishing high school, people have to go to Bijni, Bongaigaon, Bengtol, Kajalgaon, or Kokrajhar if they want higher education. Those who are really poor often have to give up studying because they don’t have the money, even if they want to continue learning.
You basically have to give up studying to live like a father who spends his life with a plough. People have to live in places like Meghalaya, Bengaluru, or Bhutan. There’s also the rare news of someone getting distracted by a gun and being torn apart. Those who have barely managed to leave and pursue higher education at least can stand on their own. They do odd jobs, run small businesses, or even a grocery store as much as they can. But if you look closer, the educational situation in the Nichima region is still not great. Students there keep facing endless challenges in their education, from natural problems and political issues to various social problems.
Speaking of natural problems, the flooding in the summer is a big issue for students’ education in the area. Kids from villages like Ouguri, Patabari, and Betini have to come east to cross the flooded water to get to school. Students from Ouguri and Patabari can’t make it to Amguri during the summer because of the flooding. Most of the students from Fatabari and Betini go to Amteka High School. In summer, they can’t cross the water if it’s flooded, and sometimes they have to skip school for up to two months. Often, they have to wait through school hours just to cross the rough water and climb the steep paths to reach school soaked. If there were at least two bridges over the stream by now, the kids in the area probably wouldn’t have to suffer like this.
The political situation is a big problem for students’ education in the Nichima area. Even today, there hasn’t been enough leadership to hold political power in the Nichima region. There’s a serious shortage of ministers and MLAs who can at least take care of the local needs. Because of poor conditions and the lack of good schools, colleges, and institutions, students here can’t get the education they want, no matter how hard they try. If there were people with political power, maybe by now at least two or three educational institutions would have been set up here, and the education situation in the area would be moving in a better direction.
In general, some issues have stopped the education situation in this area from getting better. These include poverty, parents who can’t read or write, and wild animals. Many villages in the Nichima area are in forested regions. Sometimes wild elephants, tigers, leopards, and foxes come around and cause trouble. Students can’t focus on reading because they’re scared of them. Since there aren’t higher education institutions nearby, local students from places like Malivita, Janata, Mwkhwnaguri, Mwinaguri, and Sesa Bazaar on the banks of the Bhutan hills have to cycle seven or eight kilometers to attend higher secondary schools like Amguri and Koila Moila. They have to deal with the big problem of leaving home in the dark in the morning and getting back only at night.
A lot of parents who can’t read or write can’t even picture their kids getting a proper education. They don’t pay much attention to when their kids should study or the kind of care they need. Many parents keep causing noisy fights at home because of drinking day and night. They often can’t provide the books, pens, pencils, or school supplies on time. A proper table, chair, or even electricity for studying at home is not available. Kids in grades nine and ten sometimes have to share a room with parents who drink, so they can’t focus or really absorb what they study. Many students in the area don’t feel like studying because of problems like these.
Lots of families make money by selling Jumai or alcohol. What can you say about their kids’ education? Mom is busy all day and night cooking and serving drinks. Dad is basically zonked out all the time. Some families on the hillside are stuck in dark beliefs. Kids from these families are always living with fear and shame. Plenty of families are so worried about going to the doctor that even if someone’s sick, they avoid it because they can’t read or write. Life in these families isn’t exactly setting up a good learning environment for the kids.
Many of the village schools have closed down for various reasons. Because there aren’t enough good teachers, kids have left and gone to study in private schools. This has led to a drop in student numbers, and some schools have had to merge with others. Hoping their kids will get a good education, some parents, even if they’re poor, have chosen to send their children to private schools. On top of that, many families are struggling financially and are in a state of disarray. Kids are often caught up in this chaos and miss out on a proper education because of these financial problems in the Middle East.
Some families have members who don’t set a good example. Drinking, getting drunk, or smoking harmful things can happen in these families. The same goes for some villages. Students adapt to these situations and pick up the bad habits they see at home, forgetting the importance of education. Even if kids go to school every day, they often can’t shake off the bad behaviors they get from their family or village.
So, I think that to create a good environment for education in the Nichima area, we need to raise awareness among the people there as much as possible. Every family needs to improve, and then the economy of the area needs to develop. Here, the village experts should take responsibility for improving their families and the village. If educated people take on the responsibility of working for development while focusing on all aspects of the area, good conditions for education will definitely be created, and the students’ problems will be solved too.
Along with this, with political support, necessary roads, bridges, and educational institutions should be set up. It’s important for those with even a bit of higher education to take on the heavy responsibility of leading the region and work sincerely, putting aside personal attitudes for the betterment of the area. If the people of the region think it’s good and act thoughtfully about the area’s development, then surely the area border won’t remain undeveloped.