5th convocation of Ao proficiency examination

Our Correspondent
Mokokchung, Oct. 2 (EMN): The 5th convocation of the Ao proficiency examination or ‘Arangtet’ was conducted under the aegis of the Ao Senden Literature Board (ASLB) in the presence of eminent academicians on October 2 in the town hall, Mokokchung.
Rev Dr Narola Imchen, principal of Eastern Theological College at Jorhat was the main speaker of the programme. The speaker stressed on the importance of preserving the Ao Naga dialect as many indigenous dialects are on the brink of extinction. She said that around 573 languages have been lost in the world.

Imchen emphasised that preservation and promotion of the Ao dialect must start from the home and family. Parents should take the first initiative to speak in their mother tongue and encourage their children to read and write in their dialects, she said.

Imchen pointed out the Sunday school institution and teachers can play a vital role in introducing the Ao dialect to children who are groomed in English-medium schools.

In this connection, she appealed to the fresh graduates to take up voluntary teaching to teach Ao in Sunday Schools as a responsibility to give the younger generation the wealth of indigenous languages.

Young people should take up Ao as part of academics and research, and debunk myths and folklore of the forefathers, she said.

“Let us remember our language which gives us our identity. A person without an identity is nobody in this world. If we cannot read and speak our language, we are a people without identity. Nobody will respect us,” she asserted.

During the programme Jemti Mollier, chief patron of the ASLB, highlighted to the gathering that the ASLB had achieved progress in its endeavour in the field of literature. He lauded the ASLB for preserving and promoting the Ao dialect which he said was showing that it is moving forward.

127 students, 2017-2019 batch, were conferred with certificates, diploma and postgraduate diploma by the ASLB during the convocation.