Neiphiu Rio awards Chief Minister’s Meritorious Students Fellowship to top HSLC 2025 performers

DIMAPUR — Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday handed out the Chief Minister’s Meritorious Students Fellowship (CMMSF) to the top 50 performers of the HSLC Examination 2025, urging them to remain focused, embrace discipline, and consider skill development and entrepreneurship amid rising unemployment.

Speaking at the felicitation ceremony held at the State Banquet Hall in Kohima, Rio congratulated the students for their performance, calling them “the torchbearers of tomorrow” and a source of pride for the state. He said that their commitment and hard work have brought honour to their families and schools, and to Nagaland, according to an update from the DIPR.

However, he cautioned that academic excellence alone is no longer enough in a rapidly changing job market. The state is producing more educated youth, but many remain unemployable due to lack of practical skills, he said, noting that government employment has reached saturation. He urged students to explore entrepreneurship as a viable career path and to take advantage of new vocational and skill-based education introduced in schools.

While acknowledging the improvement in the overall pass percentage in recent years, he encouraged continued efforts to enhance the quality of education in Nagaland. Rio called for a shift in how education is structured, emphasising the need to integrate life skills, critical thinking, and creativity into school curricula.

He said that the Department of School Education has already introduced nine vocational subjects at the secondary level and eight at the higher secondary level, in line with national skilling efforts, and urged the students to make use of these opportunities.

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Rio also advised the students to be prepared to face tougher challenges and urged them to instil a strong sense of discipline and cultivate sound moral values that will guide them throughout their lives. Perseverance and determination are keys to achieving your goals, he added.

In his introductory remarks, NBSE Secretary and Chairperson (addl. charge), Rangumbuing Nsarangbe, said the fellowship—instituted in 2019—has become one of the most prestigious student awards in the state. It aims to both recognise merit and support the academic journeys of high-performing students.

The fellowship offers annual financial support for five years, provided awardees maintain at least 80% marks in subsequent examinations. Non-fulfilment of the criteria will lead to the discontinuation of the grant of CMMSF, he added.

Only students belonging to indigenous Scheduled Tribes of Nagaland are eligible, and the number of recipients may exceed 50 in the case of tied marks, Nsarangbe said.

This year’s fellowship includes a citation and an initial cash award of INR 50,000, which the chief minister personally handed over to the students during the programme.

The recipients were selected from among the top rank holders of the HSLC 2025 examination conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE).