Shillong, Nov 26: The Hynñiewtrep Youths’ Council (HYC) has urged the State government to suspend implementation of the CM IMPACT Guidebooks for Classes X and XII students and to conduct a comprehensive review with input from teachers, researchers, child-development experts and educational experts.
“We are of the opinion that the materials provided to the students may reinforce rote learning and undermine the State’s educational goals,” HYC President Roy Kupar Synrem said.
The HYC said that the guidebooks’ structure—characterized by fixed-answer formats, repetitive drills, and formulaic task designs—may inadvertently shift classrooms away from meaningful learning and toward mechanical memorization. “We feel that this is not a step toward modern education; it is a step backward,” Synrem added.
Stating that the guidebooks might induce students to prioritise “recall” rather than understanding, the HYC said this will also lead to heavy dependency on standardised materials which can reduce classroom discussion, inquiry-based learning, and real-world application. “When students are trained to reproduce answers rather than think critically, creativity and curiosity suffer,” he said.
Referring to research in cognitive psychology that shows conceptual learning promotes deeper retention than memorization-heavy approaches, the HYC president said, “These guidebooks risk creating a generation of students who can memorize information but struggle to apply it in a real world or situation.”
The HYC also urged education authorities in the State to prioritise critical thinking, creativity, and conceptual understanding amongst the students as they deserve a system that prepares them not only to remember information, but to think, innovate, and thrive in a complex world.
