It is globally accepted that education is a right, not a privilege. It is on this concept that the Government of India enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) in 2009. Thereby the right to education for children as is mentioned in Article 21A of the constitution—amended in 2002—came into force with clear modalities for enforcement with the passing of the RTE Act in 2009. The Act covers various sections to ease the process of education; and to stop various malpractices that deter the pursuit for education of children. There were some groundbreaking rules in the act that dealt with issues like ease of admission, prohibition of capitation fees, and prohibition of private tuitions; pupil-teacher ratio etc. The most noteworthy being the very progressive No-Detention Policy till elementary education. However, challenges to implement this concept in letter and spirit persist in various forms.
The highly debated ‘No-Detention Policy‘ in the Act stated that no student can be declared failed, or be expelled from school till they complete elementary education, which is from class 1 to 8. This ran into a lot of controversy as it meant extra workload for teachers who have had to conduct the process of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to assess and evaluate the student’s learning. Either the zeal of teachers or their quality was found wanting in implementing such a concept, the No-Detention Policy led to schools becoming play centres and mid-day meal centres across the country. The policy was finally scraped all over the country in July 2018 enabling the states to decide whether to continue without detention. What was supposed to be a very progressive move was met with failure due to improper implementation, leading to it being scrapped.
In Nagaland too, the implementation of the Act has run into hiccups as has the rest of the country. Private tuitions continue to thrive. The no-detention policy was criticised by the teaching fraternity itself. The attachment and deputation of teachers to other departments or other assignments, which is against the RTE, still continues in the state. The best and qualified teachers are selected but the worst are kept as proxy in their place. Nothing much has been achieved through the RTE. One irony is that the new progressive private schools even in Nagaland have already started a no-detention policy till class V. There are some that have alternative ways of teaching especially for children with special needs. However, these new schools come at a very high cost and many cannot afford to send their children to such institutions. Sadly for the state, what was supposed to come as free with these entirely new and better concepts is being wasted because the education department has a history of being one of the most corrupted departments in the state.
Therefore, the status quo persists in the state with the old school—the private schools still ruling the roost. The mad rush for only the cream still persists. The regimental way of running schools that churn out brainwashed robots is still saluted. The old style in the form of a grading system with emphasis on memorising without understanding is still lauded. Recently, the minister for School Education was right in pointing out that some private schools were giving priority to good students while transfer certificates were being given to students ‘weak’ in studies. The blame also goes to the department because the curriculum that exists is focussed on a very limited end. It is about a decade since the leaders in the state have been talking about employment in sectors other than the government. However, unless a complete overhaul of the curriculum is made, how can such a foundation be built? The many vocational courses that were discontinued earlier in the elementary and secondary levels need to start again. The lack of employment opportunity is a ticking time bomb. In order to avoid it, Nagaland needs to take charge instead of following an outdated colonial education system.
