DIMAPUR, May 12 (EMN): Minister for School Education & SCERT, Yitachu on Friday assured that he would take up a matter with the Union Railway ministry about making Dimapur Railway High School (DRHS) a model school ‘that will not only attract students of a particular community but from all other communities as well.’
That way, the school will be a link not only for Nagaland state ‘but to the rest of the country’ too. Yitachu was addressing the 65th anniversary of DRHS, during which the alumni of the institution also met.
The minister lauded the efforts by citizens and teachers who despite various problems have devoted their time and energy to developing the school. The minister said that the government of India’s “Act East” policy deals only with pockets of the region. As education minister, he said, “I have been asking for model schools in remote areas. However, the problem is more in urban areas because of the urban poor. The time has come to take of the urban poor also…..We can’t afford costly educational schools.” It is an “unfortunate state of affairs” that the DRHS has come to depend on private individuals and communities since the railways took over the school in 1996 and the number of students is now 1,200 down from 1,800 at its peak.
“You don’t resolve by isolating. We need to resolve (any problem) by participating with the people. Dimapur is a place where we need to engage one another. We have enough of mistrust,” Yitachu said.
Highly paid govt teachers, poorly performing schools
Further, Yitachu lamented that despite the “lavish salaries” paid to government teachers in his department, the performance in government schools is “relatively poor” compared to that of private institutions.
Regarding the new education policy to detain or not to detain students, he said, it is up to the school authorities to decide. The minister said that ‘everyone wants to be a teacher but hardly anyone wants to go to remotes areas.’
‘Let us take the challenge; forget social unrest and violence because these are temporary. We have a duty and responsibility to students, community and nation. We need to realize this. In any society, disturbances and violence are there but these are only temporary. It is the rule of nature but it is also the nature of people to have the will to survive,’ he said.
The minister recalled that when he and his department officers went to China, they were taken to the poorest locations and also the best institutions and shown how the teachers there imparted education.
Unfortunately, “here we talk too much about our rights and take less action. We talk more and act less. We even take to the street, create kinds of movement but no action.”
On the shortage of mathematics teachers in Nagaland, the minister said that he had even discussed the matter with his counterparts in other states. But it seems they also had the same problem. This is a problem facing the entire country which will have to be resolved sooner or later, he claimed.
Yitachu expressed hoped that the railway authorities would take the opportunity to make its mark and ensure the sustainability of DRHS.
Also speaking during the occasion was Shiladitya Dey, MLA of Assam’s Hojai constituency, as guest of honour. The politician noted that this was the second time that an education minister had visited DRHS. The first time was by present Chief Minister Dr Shurhozelie, when he was in charge of education in the late 1970s.
Shiladitya Dey also said that he would take up the matter about development of DRHS with the Union Railways minister whom he would be hosting in Hojai.
Earlier, member of the advisory board of DRHS, KK Paul, paid tributes to prominent leaders of various communities and all those who worked for the development of the school which he described as a “temple and not merely a school.” He requested the minister to ensure “tuition fees be minimized.”
