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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The inaugural programme was led by joint mission director of
Samagra Shiksha Nagaland, Dr. Bijano Murry.
