Nagaland governor PB Acharya on Monday said the current education system in the country was based on what the British had outlined and was promoting a kind of knowledge that made people self-centred, besides leading to obliteration of indigenous languages.
Speaking as chief guest at the “Academic Assembly & Felicitation to Prominent Personalities, Governor Award and Scholarship to Students” programme organised by Janjati Shiksha Samiti (JSS), an NGO, at Kevijau village here on Monday, the governor said knowledge should make people realise their debts to society and the country.
Pointing out that English was being favoured in the country, he stressed that content of a speech should really matter and not the language in which the speech was delivered. He also advocated for a primary education system that made learning of mother tongue mandatory.
He also called on the people to change their mindset and recognise the good deeds of the leaders.
Referring to Piyong Temjen Jamir, recipient of Padma Shri (India’s fourth highest civilian honour) for literature and education in January 2018, the governor regretted that he was yet to be formally recognised by his own village.
Commenting on the present system of education in the State and country, Acharya pointed out that graduates were not employable and had become redundant, and hence stressed for skill development.
The governor said it was for this reason he had urged colleges and universities in the State to introduce skill development courses, which would open employment opportunities, avenues for self-employment and empower graduating students. He also called for a dialogue between industries and universities so that the latter knew the kind of graduates required.
Lamenting on the practice of unofficially installing proxy teachers as most of the teachers in government schools were not attending their duties, Acharya said they were hiring proxies for a fraction of their salary. In the same vein, he also warned private schools to refrain from running educational institutions for only for profit.
Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion as guest of honour, Higher and Technical Education minister Temjen Imna Along Longkumer called for promotion of Hindi language in Nagaland and said “today, each and every person of us as Indians should be able to stand up and speak in Hindi”.
Pointing out that being able to speak in Hindi did not tantamount to losing one’s culture, he stressed “India is our country and we have our culture”.
He also encouraged his department’s staff to put in their best efforts so that government-run institutions could match up with private institutions. This, according to him, would allow the poor and the weaker sections of society to gain from government educational system at a much lesser cost.
A short speech was also delivered by Dimapur deputy commissioner Sushil Kumar Patel.
Meanwhile, the governor released the “Naga Bharati” annual magazine 2017-18. He also presented the governor’s award to three students – Maithang Langthasa (Guru Ranindranath Tagore award for music), Khasrindi Jidung (Freedom Fighter Rani Ma Gaidinliu award for academics) and Derjet Phoulo (Dr Talimeren Ao award for sports). Four students also received scholarships under the Sona Devi Sethi Charitable Trust.
JSS also felicitated three prominent personalities – Padma Shri M Piyong Temjen Jamir, Temjen Imna Along Longkumer and Binod Kumar Sethi.