Yajen Aier GHS Mopungchuket celebrates golden jubilee
Morung Express News
Mopungchuket | October 27
Established as a Middle English school in the year 1967, Yajen Aier Government High School Mopungchuket celebrated its Golden Jubilee today with Principal Director of School Education, Nagaland, Smita Sarangi IAS as chief guest at the village community hall.
Though the first formal school in the village was established in the year 1917 by Christian missionaries, it was only in the year 1967 that a middle school was established in the village. Under the initiative of the Mopungchuket Senso Mungdang, the school named as Mopungchuket Private Middle School was established in February of 1967. Within six months of its establishment, the school was taken over by the state government.
The school was upgraded to a high school in the year 2014 and the new name of the school was adopted the same year after Yajen Aier, who hailed from the village and was the first Naga Deputy Inspector of Schools and retired as Director of Education in 1975.The school with the approval of the government was upgraded to Class 9 in 2015 and Class 10 the following year.
Smita Sarangi, Principal Director of School Education while speaking at the jubilee congratulated the school on achieving the milestone and for securing 91% passed percentage by the school’s first batch of HSLC examinations in 2017. She also appreciated the village community for making personal contributions to pay for private teachers in the school.
The Principal Director also mentioned that the school education department was going through a dynamic phase at the moment and that some exercises of rationalization were being carried out at the moment so as to improve the quality of education. She expressed concern at the dwindling enrolment faced by government schools while adding that it was time to relook and think on why enrolment was going down in government schools. She said that the department was serious about improving the education system in the state. She outlined that government schools lacking capacity for growth would be merged while acknowledging that there will be resistance from various quarters.
She hinted that government schools should show increase in enrolment to garner prospects for upgrading. Adding that there is negative output when there are more schools than is needed, she implied that the rationalization process could be hurtful but necessary. She also added that it was in the “heads and minds” of the school education department to improve the state’s education system.
While disclosing that it was her maiden visit to the district, she added that she would leave the village with a warm heart and that she would do her best to ensure that education system is improved in the days to come. She also released the school’s golden jubilee souvenir as part of the celebrations.
Other speakers at the function included DEO Mokokchung, ST Nokdang Longkumer, EAC Kubolong C. Phuniang, VEC Chairman K. Alem Aier and N. Bendang Ao, retired Secretary of Development Authority of Nagaland who spoke on behalf of the family members of Yajen Aier. It may be mentioned that N. Bendang Ao was the chief guest during the school’s silver jubilee celebration in 1992.
Other highlights of the function included performance of the school’s anthem and the jubilee song by the school choir, special number by Youth Department Mopungchuket Baptist Church and a jubilee feast. Alumni, students, parents and well wishers attended the celebration.
