Conflict and education in Manipur: A comparative analysis

Conflict, violence and social upheaval have been the greatest threats to mankind since the dawn of civilisation. Poorest communities, children and education sector are among the most severely affected by conflicts, especially in the developing countries. Understandably, education is considered as the cornerstone of socio-economic and cultural development of a society/country. Manipur, one of the India’s north-eastern States, has been facing different forms of conflicts for long, ranging from insurgency to secessionist movement; from terrorism to ethnic clashes, and the fight over resources. Having realised the gravity of the issue, the present study tries to assess degree of educational development the state could achieve despite the lingering conflicts in the State. An attempt is also made to ascertain whether the growth of education tends to curtail conflict or conflict tends to restrain educational development. With the help of primary and secondary data, as also by comparing growth trends between variables of conflict and education, the study has found that conflict does not affect educational growth in the State, but it makes children to out-migrate for their studies. In the recent past, though conflict is at its peak point (stalemate) educational development level has not suffered but has grown at a faster rate than in earlier times in the State. Based on Brahm’s inverted U shape conflict hypothesis, the State is expected to return to normalcy and enjoy a peaceful and developed life very shortly.