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T Sekhose and officials of the NEA during the National Education Day programme, in Kohima.[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Nov. 10 (EMN): Nagaland observed the National Education Day on Nov.10 with a reflection about the need for reforms in the state’s education system. The National Education Day is an annual event in India that commemorates the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of Independent India.
The Nagaland Education Association (NEA) organised a commemorative programme in collaboration with the Ura College of Teacher Education at Ura Academy in Kohima. Concerns over the condition of the education system in Nagaland and the need for educationists to come together to address the issues for posterity were the crux of the issues that were raised during the programme.
The NEA’s president, Dr. Zavise Rume, said in his keynote address that while professionalism was a rapidly growing phenomenon, Nagaland today is in dire need of professional educationists, education specialists and experts to deal with the system.
Pointing out that education had become a subject that is ‘loosely handled by anybody,’ he expressed concern that the people at large has failed to realise the complexities of the subject, which deals with human growth and development of individuals.
“Educationists are not consulted in the education policy decision-making processes. In such a manner, the present education system is handled by powerful politicians and high bureaucrats..... Many education schemes have been implemented in the state without any consultation with professional educationists. People condemn the present system of education. This is the source of confusion in our society today,” Rume said.
The official said Nagaland has many educationists but they are scattered, not belonging to any professional organisation. “There is no uniform professional code of ethics for the educationists in the state. There is hardly any leadership for educationists in the state. Hardly any educationist in the state is really involved in the education policy decision-making process,” he said.
“Educationists in Nagaland have miserably failed in their profession to play their role in the education policy making process even though there are many educationists in the state who have many resources and best mind to contribute, but they do not have any forum. This is the missing link.”
Rume maintained that all the educationists, educators and teachers in the state must unite on a single platform. Talking about the many challenges in the present system of education, he emphasized also on the need for a clear state policy on education, an education act led by law.
“We need to nurture and strengthen the present system of education like Nagaland Communitisation of Education Act 2004. We need to support the state government in effective implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009. We need to support the state government in effective implementation of Universalisation of elementary / secondary education. We need to explore a suitable method of teacher recruitment. We need a suitable law to deal with absenteeism, proxy teachers, low performance, school administration and overall quality in education,” the NEA president asserted. He urged educationists in the state to rededicate themselves to the profession.
Also, the guest of honour of the occasion T Sekhose, the director for State Council of Education, Research and Training (SCERT), urged educationists to deliberate and decide what is best for the state’s education system; and they can do so by re-learning and doing away with what is not applicable.
Sekhose expressed concern that the Naga society was using the education system by focusing too much on examination and evaluation without testing the understanding of students, and promoting them to the next level of studies.
Stating that the SCERT was trying its best to focus on quality and value-based education, he highlighted some initiatives that have been introduced in the school syllabus. The gathering was told about the need for all the stakeholders to come together and be partners in assessing, sharing of concept towards establishing a robust education system in the state that would impart as well as yield quality.
The National Education Day is celebrated on Nov. 11 every year but with the date falling on a Sunday this year, the event was observed on Saturday in Kohima.
