MAT presents 23rd edition of Mayangnokcha Awards

Morung Express News Dimapur | October 7   The Mayangnokcha Award Trust (MAT) organised the 23rd edition of the Mayangnokcha Awards presentation ceremony for ‘Academic Excellence’ on October 7 at Dimapur Mission Higher Secondary School with Eshak Konyak, Parliamentary Secretary, Art and Culture as the special guest.   Mayangnokcha Award Trust is an attempt in honour of Mayangnokcha, “the educationist- who led his countrymen into the dawn of a new era of learning, knowledge and wisdom.” The aims of the Mayangnokcha Award Trust (MAT) is to perpetuate the memory and works of late Mayangnokcha, and thereby inculcate the same sense of vision and destiny among our people in all spheres of profession; to give incentive to meritorious Naga students, and; to create a spirit of healthy competitiveness among students in the field of education.   Speaking at the event, Eshak narrated instances from his childhood and the struggles of attaining education in the absence of basic amenities and called the present time a better time for education. Encouraging the students to aspire to do something on their own behalf and not depend on the government for a job and criticized the attitude of the present employees in the state government, Eshak said that there are people who have never even seen the places, they had been posted and teachers who never attend classes but keep proxies and are committing sins. He encouraged the students to work hard, love person and be sincere and maintain the traditions and culture to become the next leader of Nagaland. Eshak called on the students to become active members in building a good Naga society and urged the students to work harder and rededicate themselves as they step ahead to achieve their aims.   The master of ceremony was Merensola, Chaplain DMHSS, invocation was said by Rev Andre Semp, Director, Nagaland Missions Movement, ‘The Educationist’ was presented by The Challengers of Discipleship Bible College, Dimapur with special number by students of DMHSS. Er. Seyiekhrietuo Solo also made a special appearance and address by the Parliamentary Secretary followed by presentation of awards. The ceremony came to a close with benediction by Rev Dr. Shiwoto Assumi, senior pastor, NCRC Purana Bazar.  

‘Need to incorporate ‘quality education’ into education policy’

  During the ceremony, Er Moa Aier, Trustee MAT while delivering the keynote address said that definition on ‘quality education’ must be first formulated, accepted and incorporated into a state education policy and only then, lay a roadmap towards achieving the same.   According to Aier, “excluding scholarships, spending by the State Government of on private schools which constitutes 73% (> 80% if other boards are included) of the total enrolled students for HSLC exams, and 86% of total qualified under NBSE HSLC during 2016, was less than Rs. 0.50 Cr i.e. practically ZERO% against the State budget of Rs. 13,000 cr plus.”   Aier lamented that “when such is the status of enrollment, the school result and the nature of funding support (i.e. Government support) it is very difficult to understand what kind of ‘quality education’ that the policy makers have in mind and wishes to achieve.”   However, he said that “more objectively, quality education can be described by some of its attributes and products- Attributes in the form of the systems and parameters that are in place for delivery of education and products in the form of its graduates and their contribution and usefulness in society.”   Concerning the gap between higher secondary level and higher education, Aier pointed out that there is a mismatch on how students are taught and expected to perform at higher secondary and at higher education. “Consequently, students struggle at the higher education sector leading to poorer outcomes. This needs to be bridged,” he added.   He also highlighted the School Assessment Programme during 2009-11 which was conducted by the MAT with the support of the State government. The MAT submitted a detailed proposal during 2011 to the State government to institutionalize the School assessment and Accreditation Programme and to make it a state policy. “We believe that if this is implemented, the thirst and the cry for “quality education” in Nagaland can be addressed to be a very large extent,” Aier added.