It is very sad, in fact alarming, to know that our government schools, excepting a few of them, are in total shambles for quite a long time. Whom to blame; the State Government itself is to blame because it is running them. Of late, various MLAs appointed as Advisors had been trying their best to clear the mess but to no avail so far, in fact some of them compounded the mess. In this regard, I would like to put across two important propositions to Hon’ble Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio for prayerful thought on it. One; Education Department should always be manned by a full-fledged Minister,and not a second fiddler as Advisor, with a responsibility fixed on the Minister itself. Two; Education Department be entrusted to a Regulatory Commission with a Minister as its Chairman and along with it stringent responsibility fixed on it. It is high time that Nagaland Government accord sacredness to Education Department because it deals with the future of children which in turn is the future of the State.
Former Advisor of School Education, KT Sukhalu, MLA tried his level best but could not do much; may be because he was only a second fiddler being an Advisor only with no adequate authority so as to be accountable to the society. The present Advisor of Education, Dr. Kekhrielhulie Yhome, MLA has begun in right earnest in straightening the department but to what extend he will be able to perform is yet to be seen and he too is only as an Advisor.
In a recent interview to a private TV channel and circulated on social media, Advisor, School Education had termed, knowingly or unknowingly, that Don Bosco schools as run for business. This is very unwise and calamitous because, in point of fact, Don Bosco schools are run primarily to give better and comprehensive education without seeking profit. If the Don Bosco Fathers were looking for profit they would never have, in the first place, opened the school at Lakhuti village. It was opened prayerfully with the vision to uplift the village despite knowing that it would be run on deficit but with the firm hope of a rich harvest. And truly, this school is instrumental in producing numerous officers, doctors, engineers, architects and hundreds of other employees from this half economically dead village Don Bosco school so much so this village has more officers and employees than all villages of some Districts of Nagaland taken together. I remember one of the Parish Priests who usually is the Principal of the school as well began to rear pigs and sold them to pay the teachers’ pay because the parents of the students did not pay their school fees. Another Parish Priest reared chickens while another reared cows to tide over the school’s financial constraint. These are some examples of the sacrifices of our priests for the cause of education, especially in remote villages. Can this be called business? If Lakhuti Don Bosco school was established for business, as my friend, Kekhrie had blatantly alleged,it would have been closed down long ago without waiting for anyone’s unkind remarks.
What is awfully wrong with the dilapidated government schools’ infrastructure (cowsheds) and failure in administration,in contrast to private schools, despite having all the possible funds and logistics, can mean only two things namely., inefficiency and lack of vision of the elected Government and the other is corrupt mentality of the people in the department. Hence, the way forward now forMLA &Advisor Kekhrie Yhome, is to take a firm step, after thorough study of the issueof the Education Department, and then bulldoze the reformation process courageously without fear or favour. You will not be alone because the whole State will be with you.
Jonas Yanthan,
yanthanjonas@gmail.com
