At the recently concluded North East NEP 2020 Conclave in Chümoukedima, educational leaders and policymakers gathered to map out the future of higher education across our region. Speeches were delivered, progress reports presented, and ambitious plans laid out. Yet, as someone engaging daily with undergraduate classrooms, I am left reflecting on a persistent disconnect.
Higher education institutions and universities are eager to introduce trendy add-on courses—ranging from generic skill modules to rapid artificial intelligence primers—to “bridge the gap” between academic instruction and market needs. But looking closely at the prescribed syllabi and these hastily introduced modules, one begins to wonder if these initiatives are like elephant tusks: visually impressive, highly decorative, but serving little real operational purpose for our students. We are rushing to embrace high-tech global trends without first auditing what is immediately useful, contextually accessible, and economically viable for a young person living in Nagaland or Arunachal Pradesh.
Eyong’s story cuts to the heart of what genuine upskilling should look like. At the Chümoukedima conclave, Prof. Jagdish K. Patnaik, Vice Chancellor of Nagaland University, rightly stressed the urgent need to transform indigenous knowledge into academic strength and upgrade local skills through technological proficiency. The key phrase here is indigenous knowledge.
There is no denying that understanding developments in artificial intelligence and modern tech stacks is valuable. AI offers vast financial possibilities for those who can master it. But mastering those specialized tools requires stable digital infrastructure, long hours of dedicated technical training, high-end hardware, and an urban market environment like Bengaluru or Delhi. Thrusting generic AI or theoretical technology modules into college add-on syllabi across Nagaland as a catch-all solution for “21st-century employability” is largely ineffective. It ignores the immediate socio-economic ecosystem our students inhabit.
“21st-century skills are not necessarily new; rather, they are newly important.”
— Elena Silva (2009), Measuring Skills for 21st century learning.
What can an average student do right now that is accessible, virtually cost-free to learn, and immediately market-viable? Crafting a morrah, processing local bamboo, or mastering sustainable regional agricultural techniques requires no capital expenditure—the raw materials are literally in our backyards. The learning curve is short, often requiring just a few hands-on lessons under a local artisan, yet the return on investment is immediate and tangible.
In her influential work on educational policy, Elena Silva (2009) observed that so-called “21st-century skills” students pursuing specialized technical internships in major metropolitan hubs. But in the North East, forcing these add-on courses into institutional frameworks without grounding them in regional economic realities fails to address what our youth actually lack.
If we truly wish to fulfill the spirit of NEP 2020, our universities and colleges must stop chasing cosmetic, trend-driven syllabi that look good on accreditation reports but yield nothing in practice. True educational transformation in Nagaland will not come from teaching a student how to generate text with AI while they struggle to pay their monthly college fees.
It will come when our curriculum honors, refines, and technologically empowers the immediate, practical, and indigenous skills—like Eyong’s morrah making—that allow a student to stand proudly on their own two feet today.
By Dr. Basant Giri
Mount Mary College.
Saturday, September 26, 2026