Orientation for DMA and EBRC coordinators underway

L Jamithung Lotha, Dr. Bijano Murry, Kelhikha Kenye along with the officials and participants at the SIRD conference hall in Kohima on Tuesday. (EM Images)

• KOHIMA — A two-day orientation and review programme for assistant district coordinators DMA and EBRC coordinators got underway at the SIRD conference hall in Kohima on Tuesday.
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• Speaking at the inaugural programme, L Jamithung Lotha, state mission director of Samagra Shiksha Nagaland (SSN), informed that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 places strong emphasis on quality education by focusing on holistic development, experiential learning and a multidisciplinary approach.
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• He stated that it aims to foster creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills in students, while it also emphasises teacher empowerment, digital integration and flexible pathways to tailor education to individual needs.

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• He maintained that Samagra Shiksha, as an integrated scheme, focuses on implementing NEP 2020 to achieve equitable, inclusive and holistic quality education for all sections from the foundational stage to the secondary Stage.
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• The official expressed delight that Nagaland has made good progress, especially in the foundational stage, wherein tracking of individual children was initiated from the 2024–25 academic session in government schools. He informed that a total of 52,094 students in government schools were assessed to ensure grade-appropriate competencies.
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• He stated that about 20% of children have achieved the desired target of 'proficient,' while a large majority of the children were in the 'beginner' and 'developing' stages.
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• “As we continue this path-breaking initiative during the current academic session, we must ensure that all children achieve the desired outcomes by the end of the academic year,” Lotha said.
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• Highlighting the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat Mission, which envisioned achieving universal foundational literacy and numeracy for all children aged 3 to 8 years by 2026–27, he reminded said the state has only one year left to achieve the mission. In this regard, he urged participants to intensify their efforts during the current year to achieve the goal of the NIPUN Bharat Mission.
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• Maintaining that the Ministry of Education is in the process of evaluating the Samagra Shiksha Scheme during 2026–27, he stressed that officials must focus on effective and
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• Stating that districts and blocks are designed to play a proactive role in providing a robust support system to schools, he challenged them to execute their roles efficiently.
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• The official also expressed delight that the state mission team along with SCERT has initiated an innovative initiative for the foundational stage in government schools called BEACON schools (Budding ECCE Academy for Children of Nagaland) to incentivise the best-performing schools in the state as exemplar schools.
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• The state mission director asserted that correct data is extremely vital for the department to ensure proper planning and implementation of activities. In this regard, he stated that the districts and blocks must guide the schools and ensure accurate entry of school data in the UDISE.
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• He further urged the participants to pay attention and clarify any doubts as they would have to go back and communicate the same to their team members and school heads for further dissemination to teachers.
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• The deputy mission director of Samagra Shiksha Nagaland, Kelhikha Kenye, in his keynote address, informed that the Government of India is making necessary evaluations to assess the impact of Samagra Shiksha and to explore the possibility of extending the scheme.
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• In this backdrop, Kenye stated that the officials especially the assistant district coordinators in the DMA and the EBRCs are the engines at the district and block levels to implement the activities and programmes of the Government of India through Samagra Shiksha and to ensure those activities are implemented as per the desired goals in the schools.
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• He informed that BEACON schools list would also be finalized during the two-day sessions. He expressed hope that the outcome of the two-day event would benefit the students and schools.
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• The inaugural programme was led by joint mission director of Samagra Shiksha Nagaland, Dr. Bijano Murry.