PHED Minister calls for giving renewed impetus to science education in Nagaland

October 28, 2023 22 Views No Comment

Diphupar GHSS completes 50 yrs

Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 28

The Minister for PHED, Jacob Zhimomi emphasised the importance of giving renewed impetus to science education in Nagaland. Zhimomi’s appeal comes in the backdrop of an apparent predilection among Naga students to avoid studying science and mathematics and more often than not opting to pursue the humanities for higher studies. He said that this attitude should shift towards a science-mathematics oriented academic goal though without ignoring the humanities. According to the Minister, there is a global trend where people from science and technical backgrounds have and are excelling and that the Nagas should also join the trend.

He made the appeal at the golden jubilee of the Government Higher Secondary School, Diphupar, on October 27, where he was the special guest.

Besides, the perceived disinterest to studying science subjects by Naga students, he said that there are also very few Naga teachers, who teach science and mathematics at the school level resulting in vacant posts of science and mathematics teachers.

While stating that measures are being taken to address the vacuum, he informed that the state government has taken the decision to open the doors to applicants from across the country to make up for the shortage science and mathematics teachers in Nagaland.

“I wasn’t good at maths and science myself. Nonetheless, it’s a highly competitive world. If you look at the UPSC results (of 2022-23), two of the four successful candidates from Nagaland were from science backgrounds. We can help guide students in choosing the right subjects,” he said.

On the contribution of government schools to Nagaland’s human resource growth, Zhimomi maintained that it was government schools that held the fort in the initial years after statehood. He said that in those days, getting admission into government schools was not easy. “It was infact considered an opportunity because the government covered the expenses.”

While stating that it has been the state government’s policy to send the best teachers to government schools, he lauded the pioneers and faculty of the Diphupar GHSS, who have ensured the survival and growth of the school.

Terming education as among the state government’s top priorities, he said that the goal is to improve and upgrade education infrastructure. According to him, there are many projects are in the pipeline, which would hopefully come to fruition. He also assured to explore means to build the Diphupar GHSS’ golden jubilee memorial auditorium as proposed by the principal.

Wonthungo Tsopoe, Director of School Education, stated that many pioneering personalities studied in government schools and became builders of the nation. While stating that the students should take pride in studying in a government school, he noted increase in enrolment in the higher classes.

He further called upon teachers to introspect and reflect on how impactful they have been. While stating, “You are building an asset here at this school,” he reminded that commitment is as much important as attendance.

The Diphupar GHSS initially started as a government primary school in 1973. Feeling the need for a middle school in the area, the local community decided to upgrade it to a private middle school in 1987 without any governmental assistance. The government later took charge of the school and upgraded it to high school and to higher secondary in 2018.

Principal of the school, C Henow Phom, informed that the school is pushing for introducing Commerce stream in the higher secondary level, in addition to Arts, for which it need additional classrooms. It has an enrolment of 585 students (Class 6-12), in 2023 with 67 employees, out of which 42 are teaching faculty.

She said that since the school was upgraded to higher secondary, “We get nearly 300 applicants every year but we can accommodate only 170 maximum (in the higher secondary).” It has made the admission process highly competitive with the eligibility cutoff marks increased to 60 percent in the HSLC examinations for students from government schools. For students from private schools, it was increased to 70 percent.