DIMAPUR, AUGUST 6 (MExN): Minister for School Education and Parliamentary Affairs, Tokheho Yepthomi today said that the Nagaland State Department of School Education has been faced with myriad problems for the last couple of years.
The time has now come to take corrective measures whereby revamping the entire system is unavoidable if a reputable standard is to be set and maintained, he said in a press note issued today.
The Minister informed that the department, altogether has approximately 11,000 teachers in both elementary and higher sections yet unfortunately, there has been a hue and cry over poor results in Government schools.
He expressed concern that communitisation of schools “appear to be not very encouraging” as most of the School Management Committees / Boards do not want to be inspected by the Departmental officers and interference by the Department is often viewed as undesirable.
He further stated that the problem of misuse of sanctioned funds and non-submission of Utilization Certificates are among the biggest bottlenecks in delivering the goods to the grassroots.
The Minister also admitted that there are huge numbers of proxy teachers all over the State. “This is not the only problem as there are many teachers attached to various district and sub-division offices. The Directorate of School Education alone has 74 (Seventy Four) teachers attached to its office. In addition to this, some of the upgraded schools (Middle, High and Higher Secondary Schools) have very little or no enrollment.”
Another problem being faced by the Department, he acknowledged is the fate of Hindi Teachers appointed under the ’Appointment of Language Teachers’ which is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
During the 10 years’ span of this scheme, Nagaland was one of the four States which availed the benefits of this Scheme with the financial year 2016-17 being the terminal year as per the laid down norms and 31st March 2017 being the end date of the Scheme after which the responsibility of maintenance of Hindi teachers shall rest upon the concerned State Governments/UT Administrations. Accordingly, the Central Government’s decision to discontinue the Scheme was conveyed to the concerned States on 8th March, 2017, the Minister noted.
He further said there is also “every possibility” to discontinue the RMSA and SSA Schemes in due course of time unless the Government and the concerned citizens are “careful in the management of these Schemes.” When the Central Government discontinues Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the State Government will be bound to take over and face a difficult time because of the financial problems of the State, he warned.
The Minister stated that unless the elected Members, concerned citizens and the School Managing Committees/Boards come together to effectively clean these compounding menaces, the Government of the day alone cannot take the responsibility.
“To do away with these problems, every concerned citizen should come together and the employees and SMCs/SMBs involved in such irregularities must introspect themselves and think for progressive change by taking corrective measures,” he appealed.
Noting that education is one department which is tasked with serious concern and responsibilities for the welfare of the students and the up-coming generations, the Minister asserted that the value of education and delivery of high quality service to the students is what will determine the overall progress of the society and mould the children into better and more responsible citizens of tomorrow.
He meanwhile informed that the Department is fully equipped to take corrective measures with the help of GIS Mapping and Personal Information Management System (PIMS) and expressed hope that the Department can move a step ahead with all these facilities aided by the “cohesive efforts of all the concerned stakeholders in order to revolutionize the existing system of education and its dissemination in Nagaland.”
