Dr Yhome advocates for ‘less and less political interference in education sector’

June 9, 2023 25 Views No Comment

Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 9

Nagaland’s school education & SCERT advisor, Dr. Kekhrielhoulie Yhome on Thursday said there has been a rush for admission into government higher secondary schools in the state.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day state level coordination and review meeting with District Mission Authority (DMAs) and Educational Block Resource Centre (EBRCs) at Administrative Training Institute, Kohima, Dr Yhome said the result of the government schools in the recent HSLC/HSSLC examination 2023 has improved “not marginally but in a huge way,” especially in higher secondary.

There are around 4 lakh students in Nagaland starting from pre-primary till higher secondary with 1.50 lakh students in government school and 2.50 lakh in private schools, he informed. “In two years, with our support and our leadership, we should be having a target of bringing 1 lakh students back into our school system,” he said.

On the ground of the requirement of mathematics and science teachers from various quarters, Dr Yhome said the department will not consider the case if administrative approval are not done through the concerned coordinators of the department. All should be vetted by you, he said adding “We will route through the district process.”

Towards this, he stressed on the need to create a good administrative structure within the department. “I want less and less political interference in education sector,” he said.

Dr Yhome also lamented on the practice of parents not sending their daughters to school and sending only the boys to school especially in primary and middle schools stating “This is one area of concern which we should do away with it.”

For this, he stressed on the need to engage the village councils and students union. He also informed that the department will come out with a new service rule.

Nagaland registers reduction in drop-out rate
Kevileno Angami, Commissioner & Secretary for School Education and SCERT said there has been improvement in the school education indicators since 2021-23 for the state of Nagaland in terms of the transaction rate at the elementary and secondary level.

There is a reduction in the drop- out rate at the elementary and secondary level, she said.

In line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Angami said various activities are being directed for implementation on the state which should be done with sincerity. She said implementation of any activity should have positive impact on the child in the school.

Stating that the extra-curricular activities are being carried out to support and supplement the academic need of the children, she said such activities should be carried out meaningfully and not just for the sake of implementation.

“We need to continually assess our performance. We need to continually review our activities so that we can learn from each other,” she pointed out.

Temsunaro Aier, State Mission Director, Samagra Shiksha Nagaland said the role of EBRCs have become significant in the implementation of NEP 2020, adding that it play the most critical units for ensuring and evaluating the quality of education at school level on a constant basis and providing timely remedial interventions, training and on-site support to schools and teachers.

These resource centres also function as a repository of academic resources including Teaching Learning Materials (TLMs) specifically relating to the NIPUN Bharat Mission on FLN & ECCE, awareness training on critical components like Children with Special Needs (CwSN) and Assessment Camp for Aids & equipment for CwSN.

“We really need to build up the skills to implement NEP 2020. We require the highest level of dedication and commitment and be motivated to resolve any issues at the shortest possible time as most of the works are strictly time bound,” she said.

Aier said that EBRC coordinators have to be extra vigilant in identification of dropout children, adding that every child should be in the mainstream school.

Later, power point presentation on Samagra Shiksha activities was presented by Dr Kevizakie Rio and Dr Bijano Murry. Both are Joint Mission Director of Samagra Shiksha Nagaland.

Organized by Nagaland Education Mission Society, Samagra Shiksha Nagaland, the programme will continue till June 9.