Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 2
In an ‘Academic Assembly’ on the theme ‘Importance of Motivation in Education,’ Sushil Kumar Patel, DC Dimapur and Special Guest for the day said that the best motivation comes from the “collective effort” of teachers, parents and students that leads to success through the right process.
He was speaking at the Janjati Shiksha Samiti (JSS) in Nagaland that facilitated a program to felicitate students and prominent personalities with awards and scholarships at their campus in Kevijau Village here today. Three students were awarded the Governor’s Award while four students received scholarships from the Sona Devi Sethi Charitable Trust.
Temjen Imna Along Longkumer, Nagaland Minister of Higher & Technical Education, and Guest of Honour, highlighted how this program is “history in the making” for the JSS as well as "small colleges and schools" started with the “endeavour of national integration.”
He maintained that Nagas have reached a “very narrow scope of teaching experience” in terms of education in the State. Calling for motivation among “all the teaching staff in the education sector,” Longkumer hoped that the sector would be injected with “equilibrium between earning and giving education.”
Acknowledging the “dedication” of Padmashree Piyong Temjen Jamir, Longkumer maintained that while teaching Hindi was “against the very principle of Nagas,” today “I can stand here and proudly say that I am an Indian, and each and every one of us needs to be able to speak in Hindi.”
There are “more than thousands” of teachers being trained in Hindi in the region today, said the Minister for Higher & Technical Education, and one cannot anymore “disassociate from the mainland” while “enjoying privileges” from it. Thus, he requested people to “welcome initiatives of this country to integrate into one great nation.”
Educate the unempowered
“Education empowers the person,” explained Nagaland Governor, PB Acharya, while speaking as Chief Guest. Stating that the present education system in India was inherited from the British that they instated to build people who can work for them, the Governor hoped that “our primary education should be in our mother tongue.”
Moreover, Hindi education, he said, can help the society move forward. A common language can facilitate increased interaction leading to increased job and business opportunities.
In a land of “unity in diversity,” Acharya said people are more concerned by whether they are Hindu or Christian and “we should come out of this.”
According to him, at the core of education today is 'self centricism'—a “drawback of the legacy of the British educational system”—which must be changed to help education be accountable to the family, society and nation.
Furthermore, “there has to be a dialogue between industry, trade, commerce and education,” he maintained, so that India can become a “great Human Resources department through skills development.”
Describing the struggles of Naga people in interior areas, Acharya also hoped that education sector’s goal would be to “educate the unempowered.”
He also highlighted how Dimapur has a market with a turnover of Rs. 400 crores but common people do not get the benefits of this. He acknowledged the work of the “non tribal” people of Nagaland state in helping the indigenous people—but “emotional integration,” he said, is not a one way process.
He encouraged people of the state to become job givers not just job seekers.
“Let us walk as one nation while respecting diversity, moving forward with equity for each state,” Acharya appealed, ending his speech with a ‘Kuknalim’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai.’
Awards
The Governor’s Award was presented by Nagaland Governor, PB Acharya, to three students. The ‘Freedom Fighter Rani Ma Gaidinliu, Best Student’ award went to Khasrindi Jidung, the ‘Dr. Talimeren Ao Award, Best in Sports’ award was given to Derjet Phonlo and the ‘Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Best Singer’ award went to Maithang Langthasa. They are all from the Gamadi Vidya Bharati School in Dhansiripar.
Four students from different schools in Dimapur also received scholarship money of Rs. 5000 each from the Sona Devi Sethi Charitable Trust, a family run charitable institution in Dimapur.
Further, prominent personalities were felicitated during the program for their contribution to society. This includes Padmashree M Piyong Temjen Jamir for spreading Hindi in Nagaland, Temjen Imna Along Longkumer, Nagaland Minister of Higher & Technical Education, for his success in the elections and being a patron of JSS in Nagaland and Binod Kumar Sethi for initiating charitable works in Nagaland.
The JSS is a non government organization working to promote “educational, social and cultural community development in Nagaland state of Bharat.” Its base in Dimapur hosts the VB Infants’ Digital Home, Rashtrabhasha Hindi Study Centre and JSS Skills Development Centre. Its first activities started in Nagaland with opening of the Heraka Vidya Bharati School in Jalukie B (Peren) and Gamadi Vidya Bharati School in Dhansiripar.
