Nagaland: ENSF suspends agitation after meeting with Education department

DIMAPUR — The Eastern Naga Students' Federation (ENSF), along with its federating units, has decided to suspend its third phase of agitation following a meeting with the School Education department on Saturday.

The meeting, held in Kohima, was chaired by the commissioner and secretary of School Education and SCERT.

Discussions focused on addressing teacher rationalisation issues that had triggered ENSF’s agitation. The federation’s general secretary confirmed that the proposed shutdown measures, scheduled to begin on September 18, have been put on hold pending further talks.

After detailed deliberations, four key decisions were reached.

Reversion of transfers: Thirty-three teachers earlier transferred out of eastern districts will be reverted within a week, except in cases of serious medical or genuine grounds.

Related: Eastern Naga Students’ Federation orders shutdown of offices, schools from September 18

ENSF begins agitation over teacher transfers; USSC seals DEO, SDEO offices in Kiphire, Longkhim

Deployment of new teachers: Newly recruited Graduate Teachers (GTs) of Mathematics and Science will be posted to eastern districts within a week to meet immediate shortages.

Constitution of a sub-committee: A committee will be formed to examine shortages and excesses in teacher distribution. It will include representatives from the department (as convenor), two officials from the directorate (including the member secretary), and two ENSF representatives.

Redeployment of 2015 recruits: Eighteen Science and Mathematics teachers recruited in 2015, meant exclusively for eastern districts but posted elsewhere, will be reviewed by the sub-committee for redeployment.

The sub-committee has been tasked with submitting its report by September 30. The agreement aims to ease shortages and ensure that schools in eastern districts receive adequate staffing.

The ENSF had launched its agitation on September 11 after its ultimatum of August 26 went unheeded. The federation had demanded retention or redeployment of teachers, alleging that the rationalisation carried out on August 22 left several schools without subject teachers.

In its first phase of protest, ENSF directed its federating units to seal the offices of District Education Officers (DEOs) and Sub-Divisional Education Officers (SDEOs) across Eastern Nagaland.

The second phase, which began on September 15, escalated the agitation through closure of government offices and schools, as well as restrictions on movement of government-registered vehicles.