About 60% of the government schools in the state are on the verge of collapse. This was revealed by Advisor School Education and SCERT Dr Kekhrielhoulie Yhome during a consultative meeting with representatives of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) along with their federating units at Capital Convention Hall here on Tuesday organized by Department of School Education (DoSE).
Expressing serious concern, Yhome called for collective effort to address the issue. He assured that the School Education Department would provide teachers, improve infrastructure and identify various issues plaguing these schools, but he stressed working together with NGOs for better outcomes. He also disclosed that Nagaland had the highest number of schools dropouts, and cited linguistic barriers as one of the key factors in this regard. In this regard, he underscored the importance of incorporating local languages in the school education system.
He highlighted the role of the church, community and unions in helping build a better future for the students. Yhome also hinted that the Department of School Education (DoSE) was serious and ready to address the issues faced by the department vis-à-vis teachers’ recruitment, enrolment of students etc. He asserted that the department would be streamlining the recruitment process. He said the recruitment process would be carried out through NPSC and NSSB, adding that the DoSE was in talks with the two institutions to chart out the process. Yhome also noted that the department has been able to gather all the required data and was now ready to frame a clear-cut policy. Yhome said that once the policy is made, drastic steps would be taken by the department which would in turn benefit all.
“We need to go back to primary level to improve the education system and for children to get proper education,” Yhome said, while also emphasising the need for proper data to formulate a clearer policy.
Yhome lamented that the public was of the notion that school education was the backbone of providing employment. He, therefore, urged the public to do away with such thoughts, asserting that it was a place where the society is built.
Further, the adviser clarified that there was nothing called transfer with post or tribe teacher quota system. But as far as primary teachers were concerned, he stated that they had to be confined to their linguistic area.
However, as there were excess teachers in some areas and among certain tribes, he maintained that the issue would have to be sorted out and start making changes where there were less teachers.
He admitted that the poor condition in most government schools were forcing many parents to send their children to private schools, and in the process were become debt-ridden as they were borrowing money to pay the high fees in the private schools.
Claiming that the government higher secondary schools were doing better, he called for improving the quality of primary education by recruiting good teachers. He said the department was working to rationalise the system at the earliest and looking into school development.
Addressing some recent concerns, Yhome acknowledged the “historical” weaknesses in the management system but assured the public that concerted efforts were underway to rectify these issues.
He suggested a systematic structure in the establishment of village schools, stressing the crucial role of comprehensive cooperation to achieve this goal.
In a bid to prioritise students’ well-being, he said plans were in place to introduce student health cards and ensure immunisation.
31,063 teachers: Yhome further revealed that there were altogether 31,063 school teachers in the state, with 18,725 teachers working in government schools and 12,338 in private schools. Similarly, he said based on December 2023 data there were 1,50,483 students studying in government schools and 2,59.480 students in private schools.
Meanwhile, in his report, DoSE statistical officer Tsupithong Yimchunger disclosed that there were 274 government schools without graduate teachers (GT) in Math and 189 graduate teachers in science.
There were also 9,170 primary teacher, 107 pre primary teacher,127 language teacher, GT Science 917,GT Math 725,GT General 3073, 152 GHT , UGHT 1846 across the state.
Commissioner and Secretary Kevilenuo Angami said it was time to start rationalisation exercise and hoped that this would address various issues plaguing the school system in the long run.
She admitted that addressing the issues would take time, but hoped that the initiatives taken by the department would bear fruit in the coming days. She pointed out that the government had various rules and procedures that needed to be followed while addressing the issues.
She said the department understood the concerns of the student unions because the latter had the interest of the children in mind. She hoped that the consultative meeting would not only address the shortage of teachers in schools, but raise and discuss other problems, issues and concerns for the benefit of the children.
During the discussion, the ENSF representative assured that the federation would stand with DoSE, but the department should also assure to stand firm and provide justice to all teachers and students.
He also expressed concern over the placement of SDO and DEOs as most of them were on the verge of retirement and did not have time for the people. He pointed out this was why the department had fail to reach out to many areas.
He suggested extending the period of placement with certain age so that they also understood and communicated with the grassroots community to understand the problems in the respective areas.
He also called for strict regulations for checking teachers who were attached to other establishments.
On his part, the NSF representative emphasised that school education should not be an employment sector, but about human resources development. He also expressed concern over rationalisation of teachers.
Confederation of Chang Students’ Union representative expressed concern over minimising the period of teachers training.
United Sangtam Students’ Conference leader raised the issue of shortage of teachers in their area, while Tikhir Students’ Union representative alleged that there were only 12 schools, including two high schools, but the high schools were closed and there was no high school in the area, for which all students were going to Kiphire. He requested the department to ensure quality education in their area.
Ao Students’ Conference (AKM) representative requested the department to review the number of teachers and students in their area, and ensure that the schools get books and uniform on time.
Raising the issue of irregular and proxy teachers, Pochury Students’ Union requested the DoSE to strictly regulate the transfers of teachers and look into the lack of infrastructure and posting of DEOs and SDOs.
Dimapur Naga Students’ Union representative claimed that there were more teachers than students in some schools, besides raising the issue of the schools getting flooded during the raining season, for which the schools could not function. He requested the government to look into the matter.
Other student body representatives also raised similar concerns and issues that were addressed by the head of the department personally and assured to look into the matters and solve them at the earliest.
ON the issue of Yimkhiung Akheru Arihako (YAA) Yhome acknowledged the issues raised by them, but pointed out the complexities of fulfilling all their demands. However, he expressed confidence in the ability to devise solutions and work toward the improvement of student welfare. The programme was chaired by principal director DoSE Thavaseelan K.