Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, APRIL 27
Thanks to inflation of education data by the authorities ‘to avail schemes and funds’ and “mess in utilization of the schemes and funds in the past” education in Nagaland has had to suffer and give the state a poor image in terms of accountability and integrity.
This was the lament of an education official during the inauguration of a school in Kohima. However, there is hope that with the state’s education sector being streamlined, there would be ‘better days ahead where funds would be made available to meet all interventions.’
For instance, child-wise data and identification of children in every government schools in Nagaland throughout the academic session will commence this current year as instructed by the ministry of education, education have informed. The database prioritizes the enrolment all children, and would entail ‘intensive identification’ of all children who are in school as well as out-of-school. It would be followed by enrolment and a back-to-school drive.
The mission director of the State Mission Authority of the educational program Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Thejawelie Gregory Sote, informed of the development during the inauguration of a new school building for the government middle school of Keyake at Riichietsa in Kohima.
Seeking the cooperation of all in concern to said mission, he encouraged furnishing accurate information as and when solicited. Speaking as the chief guest of the event, Sote informed that to make the learning of science and mathematics a ‘joyful and meaningful activity’ among students, the ministry of Human Resource Development had set up the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA). The RAA aims at nurturing the ‘spirit of inquiry and creativity.’
The RAA will encourage and support children who show an ‘inclination’ and talent in said subjects, and nurture them toward ‘heights of academic excellence and research,’ he said. The program will also target students in the age group of 6-18 years to achieve learning levels appropriate to the class of study in science and mathematics.
The mission director also lamented about past ‘embarrassments due to lack of accurate figures and data about the number of schools, exact enrolment of students and teachers.’ Sote cited figure inflation by the authorities in concern ‘to avail schemes and funds.’
However, he said with the initiative of the education minister in undertaking ‘rationalization’ of schools which concluded in February 2016, the department could now confidently state the exact number of schools in the state. It totals at 2, 060; some schools have been merged while some have been ‘dropped,’ he explained.
Congratulating the school at its getting a new building, Sote said that school infrastructures in the state “have improved a lot.” Nonetheless, he reminded the people that the priority of the ministry had now shifted to imparting quality education. Therefore, he said, the school’s authority and the community together should develop a sense of ownership and ‘safeguard the school buildings.’
Stating that the education sector in the state had not been ‘performing at par with the national level,’ Sote asserted that teachers and the authorities in concern ‘must come out of their comfort zones and perform their duties with a mission and vision to impart quality education to each and every student.’
Also pointing that quality education is not confined only to “bookish knowledge,” the education official said that the students should be taught ‘all aspects of life like cleanliness, discipline, obedience etc which, he maintained should all be incorporated in the education system.’
Lamenting that Nagaland state had been ‘put in a bad picture due to the mess in utilization of the schemes and funds in the past,’ he expressed hope that with stabilized data the state would now have ‘better days ahead where funds would be made available to meet all interventions.’ However, Sote cautioned, funds should be used ‘judiciously and honestly.’
The school began as an informal education centre under the SSA in 2005, with the basic concept of ‘health and hygiene, learning while playing.’ The school has seen tremendous change over the years: it was upgraded to government primary school in 2009; to middle school in 2012. The school has an enrolment of 175 students, and 16 teaching staffers, with two teachers on community payroll.
The land on which the school’s building stands was donated by a citizen, Neipeso Rutsa. The land measures 3-acres. The school has sufficient space for future development.
Earlier the Mission Director also unveiled the new school building plaque and released the school bulletin titled ‘Echo’.
