KOHIMA, MAY 16: 
The Kohima District Planning & Development Board (DPDB) on Monday felicitated a student from Kohima district who attained distinction in the year’s High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) boards.
Mhaleto Kirha, the HSLC topper from amongst government high schools of the district was felicitated by the development board. The felicitation was conducted in the DPDB’s conference hall.
A student of Seikhazou government higher secondary school, Kirha scored 90.6% in the examination with an aggregate of 453 out of 500 marks besides distinction in all the subjects.
The young achiever aspires to pursue medical studies and become a cardiologist. Kirha is grateful to his family and teachers, to whom he attributed his success.
During Monday’s ceremony, the state’s Minister for Social Welfare & Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie, handed over a citation and cash award of Rs.15, 000 to the young topper on behalf of the DPDB of Kohima.
Congratulating the topper, the politician congratulated the student and wished more success in the future. Peseyie also lauded the district development board for felicitating the district topper, a gesture he feels would motivate students from government schools to excel in their academic performance.
Peseyie also said there was a need for the people to ‘learn and grasp’ that quality education is the key to developing a person’s life, and that education imparted to students acts as an instrument of bringing about social transformation and aim at instilling a sense of creativity and commitment in young students.
Interestingly, Mhaleto Kirha’s twin brother, Mhalevi Kirha, also from the same school, also scored distinction in all the subjects in the HSLC but fell short of his twin’s aggregate by 24 marks. Taking note of the excellence in his performance as well, Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Dr. Neikesalie Kire felicitated Mhalevi Kirha as well.
Congratulating the twins on their achievement, Kire said that they had defied ‘general presumptions’ and perception about government-run schools; they have proved that government school students can also perform as sound as those from the private schools. Government schools do cater to students from the lesser-fortunate backgrounds but that, he said, should not be an excuse–teachers in the government sector are much more qualified, he said. He also challenged the teachers and the education department to perform better in their duties.