Nagaland schools struggling to complete course

Kohima, Jul 20 : With a view to bringing about change in the educational delivery system in the State by equipping the students with skills, values and employable education, the Mayangnokcha Award Trust (MAT), supported by the Government of Nagaland, has carried out the first phase of school assessment and grading in the State.

The report released by the MAT reveals that most high schools and almost all higher secondary schools were struggling to complete the syllabus set for an academic year. It states that almost all teachers of higher secondary schools were of the opinion that they are unable to complete the set study programme on account of two factors – the number of available working days is not enough, particularly in Class XI, due to short academic session and secondly the syllabus is too vast.

The report, first of its kind in the country, released by Minister for School Education and SCERT Nyeiwang Konyak on June 29 last at Kohima states that many schools are resorting to extra classes in order to complete the syllabus, a situation which does not leave them with sufficient time to impart skill-based trainings, co-curricular activities, etc.

Frequent changes in prescribed text books, sometimes within just two years or so but without any marked improvement in quality, were also found to be disturbing. Further most of the textbooks and the number of books to be carried by children were found to be too voluminous where even schoolbags had to be changed two to three times in a year due to wear and tear caused by excessive load of books.

The report states that an important area that needs to be looked into by most private institutions is the very high turnover rate of teachers, as some institutions were found with as much as 70-75 per cent of their teaching faculty in the same school for just three years or less. “Since this can have a negative impact on teaching quality, the factors leading to such a high turnover needs to be identified and addressed,” the report said.

Of the State’s total annual budget and expenditure on education, less than 5 per cent is spent on private schools. However, the report pointed out that ‘if HSLC and HSSLC examinations are any indicators, the area in which 95 per cent of the government budget on education is spent, does not seem to come anywhere near close to justify such lopsided spending without positive contribution to the State’s education and human resource development’.

“This is one area which should be of common concern for all stakeholders – the government, the private management, teachers, parents, students and people as a whole, in order to ensure that Nagaland as a State should improve in all aspects of education,” the report says.

On physical infrastructure, particularly on size of campus, MAT recognised that generally it is more convenient to have a larger campus in the plain areas than in the hills. The report pointed out that it may not be too much of an effort to have a full-sized football ground in plain areas (Dimapur or Chumukedima etc). However, to have a similar facility in hilly areas (Kohima, Mokokchung, etc) may not be that easy.

In many institutions, MAT report revealed that a generally neglected area was the toilets and drinking water facilities. It recommended that clean toilets, sufficient play space for students and drinking water facilities should form some of the minimum requirement of any educational institution.