Education is widely regarded as the most powerful agent of social transformation. Although Nagaland’s higher education system has faced numerous obstacles, it also faces numerous chances to overcome these challenges and improve the higher education system. The higher education business has grown dramatically in several areas in recent decades, including institutional capacity, enrolment, teacher-student ratios, and so on. Simultaneously, the country’s higher education system is rapidly expanding, causing host of worries about equity, efficiency, excellence, and access to higher education.
Nagaland’s institutes are blessed with bright and well-versed faculty, as well as complete modern facilities such as laboratories, libraries, computers, and internet access, all of which contribute to a high standard of education. Colleges in Nagaland provide courses in humanities, sciences, commerce, English, and other areas in a variety of formats, including conventional, open university, and campus learning.
Nagaland’s colleges play a critical role in providing education. Research, computer, hotel management, commerce colleges, legal colleges, engineering, polytechnic, arts, medical, scientific, music, and other courses are available at Nagaland’s many institutes. Patkai Christian College, Bailey Baptist College, Tetso College, and many other colleges in Nagaland are well-known.
Nagaland boasts a high-quality education system despite being the country’s smallest state and its educational sector is making progress. The Nagaland Education Mission Society is in charge of managing the government’s education-related programmes and policies. With a literacy rate of 79.55%, Nagaland is India’s 15th most literate state. The male population has a literacy rate of 82.75%, while the female population has a literacy rate of 76.11%, according to Census 2011.
According to the state education board’s data from 2019, the State has up to 730 recognised schools, of which 200 are private schools. According to the AISHE Report 2019, the State has 66 colleges and 16 standalone institutions across its 11 districts that provide higher education in a variety of subjects. Nagaland has four universities, one of which is a central institution and three of which are private universities, according to the University Grants Commission (UGC).
PROBLEMS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS:
1) Inadequate physical infrastructure: When buildings, resources, and technologies are modernized with sufficient finances, quality education is achievable. The majority of Nagaland’s colleges are not accredited by the NAAC. Due to difficulties such as low quality input, insufficient teacher-student ratios, poor communication, and so on, NAAC-accredited universities receive a dismally low grade. As a result, future grant opportunities are limited.
2) Inadequate Salary: In Nagaland, most private institutions give little remuneration to teachers, resulting in indifference among teachers toward complete attention to their work.
3) Lack of innovative view and research: The majority of Nagaland’s higher educational institutions lack an innovative outlook and research elements, which impedes the development of professors, students, and the institution’s general infrastructure. Many institutions in Nagaland still use traditional teaching and learning methods rather than new technological teaching aids and devices to assist students to learn more effectively in the classroom.
4) A scarcity of job-guaranteed courses: Education is frequently viewed as a means of ensuring future employment opportunities. However, in today’s competitive world, when every institution strives to offer professional courses, Nagaland’s educational institutions are still falling behind. In recent years, the situation has slightly improved, with fewer universities establishing professional courses yet failing to provide campus recruitment services. This necessitates a significant upgrade.
IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS
1) Exam System: When creating question papers, academic standards and proper coverage of the syllabi must be assured. In higher education, professionalism and computerization are essential for rapid results declaration. The evaluation of answer scripts must be done with extreme caution and accountability.
2) Research and Technology Development: Any College/research University’s and technological development are inextricably linked. In addition to the scholar’s personal recognition, research initiatives help to create resources, develop infrastructure facilities, and augment instructional materials for the benefit of students. On the basis of local demands and available resources, a team of specialists from industries, universities, research institutes, and legal sectors may be formed to design policies on consulting, patenting, and technical development.
3) More funding and support: To strengthen Nagaland’s higher education system, the public-private partnership must be fostered. The government should consider forming a public-private partnership to improve the quality of education in government colleges with low-quality output.
4) Establish a link between work and education: Without a link between work and education, higher education will fail to pique interest and, as a result, will fail to attract the region’s raw potential. As a result, universities and colleges should concentrate on expanding career-oriented programmes.
5) Updating in Curriculum: In order to meet the needs of current students, it was proposed that the Degree Education Curriculum be revised to include more practical in Commerce and Business oriented Degree course curriculum, such as Banking Transactions, Income Tax Filing and GST, Auditing, Demat Account, Online Marketing, and ERP Solutions. A degree programme’s theoretical and practical components should be weighted 40:60.
Finally, let me state that governmental indifference, poor administration in higher educational institutions, and a lack of professional support has resulted in Nagaland’s colleges being in a dire status. Appropriate policies and locally trained workers (both academic and administrative) are essential for boosting Nagaland’s higher education quality.
Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Dr Aniruddha Babar, Khangpuiliu Pamei, Rinsit Sareo, Meren and Kvulo Lorin. For feedback or comments please email: dot@tetsocollege.org.
