PHED Minister Jacob Zhimomi at the unveiling of the Golden Jubilee monolith of Government Higher Secondary School, Niuland, on October 10.
Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 10
According to the Minister for Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) Jcob Zhimomi, public trust is vital to improving the standard of state-run government educational institutions in Nagaland.
“As parents, many of us, we don't have faith in government schools. It is a wrong notion. We have to build our own schools and colleges,” said Zhimomi speaking at the golden jubilee of the Government Higher Secondary School (GHHS), Niuland, on October 10.
As implied by him, parents’ trust, enrolment and government investment are relative. While stating that government schools have the most qualified and best trained teachers, he said that an improved public perception would result in increased enrolment and stronger investment from the government for developing schools.
Otherwise, he said that it would call for closure of schools with poor enrolment or lopsided teacher-student ratio. Citing findings from assessment of teacher-student ratio, he said that there are schools with more teachers than students, while some face shortage of teachers and surplus enrolment. He added that the disparity is why the government has contemplated shutting down some schools and implementing a cluster programme to consolidate them. He further pointed out a common issue contributing to the anomaly— teachers preferring to be in towns where there are more facilities, which leads to a shortage of teachers in our villages.
On the contrary, as per statistics, he said that there are enough teachers under the government payroll to serve the state’s 21.3 lakh (approximate) population. “We have to see that we do justice to our own schools and colleges. And as a government, we also have to do justice to our governance,” he said, while adding that the government is undertaking processes to ensure an appropriate census is recorded.
All in all, he held that the performances of government schools are gradually improving. “I am confident that we are heading in the right direction. I am also happy to learn from the principal that Government Higher Secondary School Niuland has been achieving good results. However, we must strive to progress to an even more profound level of excellence.”
GHSS Niuland started as a private middle school — Hovishe Middle English School — in 1975 through the initiative of grassroots leaders of Niuland. It was converted to government school in 1981 and upgraded to a full-fledged government high school in 1993. It became a higher secondary school in 2007.
Meanwhile, Principal Isiteulie Zeliang, informed that GHSS Niuland has been selected as a Lighthouse School Complex (LSC) under the Nagaland Education Project- The Lighthouse (NECTAR) initiative.
As the district’s only government higher secondary school, and despite numerous challenges, she said that the school’s academic performance has shown an improving trend, returning 97 percent pass rate in HSSLC and 54 percent in HSLC. While stating that the school belongs to the community, she called for active ownership and support from all stakeholders.
Model College Niuland
Zhimomi further announced the approval of a Model College for Niuland by the Central government. “Very soon we are going to start the necessary processes to establish the college,” he revealed, while urging parents to consider the opportunities for higher education within the district.
