Kevileno Angami, Jamithung Lotha, Syed Hyder Ali and
officials from Samagra Shiksha Nagaland and SCERT Nagaland during the launch of
Nagaland Literacy and Numeracy Fest 3.0 in Kohima on Wednesday. (EM Images)
KOHIMA — Commissioner
and Secretary of School Education and SCERT, Nagaland, Kevileno Angami, on
Wednesday launched the Nagaland Literacy and Numeracy Fest (NLNF) 3.0, a micro
improvement programme for schools, during a programme held at the Civil
Secretariat in Kohima.
The programme will commence on May 1 on the DIKSHA portal
for teachers and school heads in all schools having foundational classes from
Pre-primary to Grade 3.
The launch event was held in the presence of Jamithung
Lotha, state mission director of Samagra Shiksha, Nagaland; Syed Hyder Ali,
senior lead at Shiksha Lokam, Bangalore; and officials from Samagra Shiksha and
SCERT Nagaland.
Speaking at the launch event held in her office chamber at
the Nagaland Civil Secretariat, Kohima, Kevileno expressed her delight at the
launch of the fest.
She informed that NLNF 3.0 will be conducted in five cycles
during the academic year 2025–26. It will cover projects such as tales and
stories, read-a-thon, literacy fest, speak-a-thon and write-a-thon for teachers
along with projects for school heads focusing on parental engagement and school
processes that support the achievement of foundational literacy and numeracy
(FLN) in government schools.
Describing the micro improvement programme as a transformative
initiative, she said it aims to promote innovative practices and the creativity
of teachers by encouraging small, actionable steps toward achieving larger
educational goals.
Kevileno noted that the Nagaland Literacy and Numeracy Fest
has been implemented in the state since 2022 in collaboration with Shiksha
Lokam, Bangalore. She informed that the activities aligned with the NIPUN
Bharat Mission to foster improved learning outcomes at the foundational stage,
empower educators, enhance student engagement and strengthen community
involvement across the state.
“Over the past years, school participation in the micro
improvement plan activity has been increasing since 2022,” she said.
Referring to the annual status of education report (ASER)
2024, she expressed satisfaction with the improvement in arithmetic skills at
the foundational stage. She, however, voiced concern on the significant decline
in reading levels, especially in private schools.
She appealed to all school heads and teachers to implement
NLNF 3.0 seriously from May 1 to September 2025, to provide enriching
teaching-learning opportunities that promote joyful and meaningful learning.
She stated that every activity has been curated in alignment with the academic
calendar.
Kevileno urged school leaders and teachers to adopt the
micro improvement approach in classroom practices and school processes to
achieve sustainable and improved educational outcomes. She further appreciated
Shiksha Lokam for its continued partnership and called upon all stakeholders to
contribute concerted efforts to sustain the initiative.
Dr. Bijano Murry, joint mission director of Samagra Shiksha,
said the state intended to strengthen the key objectives of the NIPUN Bharat
Mission through the micro improvement approach. She encouraged the teachers to
undertake innovative classroom projects to achieve FLN goals.
She informed that Nagaland started the micro improvement
approach in 2022 with a reading festival, followed by the launch of the
Nagaland Literacy and Numeracy Fest in 2023.
Kelhikha Kenye, deputy mission director of Samagra Shiksha,
described the initiative as a year-round micro-improvement plan for schools in
order to encourage teachers and school heads to initiate creative teaching and
learning activities.
He stated that the goal of NIPUN Bharat Mission was to
enable all children from 3 to 8 years achieve universal foundational literacy
and numeracy by the time they turn eight. It means that children should be able
to read known and unknown text of about 30 to 40 words per minute with
comprehension. By Class 2, they should also be able to perform basic numerical
operations including addition, subtraction, and simple multiplication.
Kenye expressed hope that the initiative, now in its fourth
year, would become a sustainable programme within schools. He added that the
long-term goal was to enable the teachers evolve and sustain the programme
independently. He also encouraged the teachers to design activities accordingly
to provide rich learning experiences.
He further called for a collective effort involving parents,
teachers, school heads and community leaders by referring to an African
proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
