Our Correspondent
Kohima, Dec. 14 (EMN): The advisor for Technical Education and Election, Medo Yhokha on Monday said Nagas must do away with divisive policies and vested interests to move forward.
He was addressing the All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) ‘e-collegiate meet cum beat contest’ that is being conducted virtually at Government Polytechnic Kohima (GPK).
Yhokha said Nagas as a community have sailed together despite differences and urged to be ‘true to oneself’ in response to the situation and the challenges to succeed.
He maintained that one has to change one’s narratives, perspective, outlook and set before oneself new visions and approaches.
Yhokha also stressed on the need to understand each other better and be accommodative, inclusive of ideas, philosophies, which he said are going to be key factors to move ahead.
The advisor said the state of Nagaland ‘have seen numerous visible changes’ despite issues and challenges that are also yet to be addressed. He added there has been a sea of changes in all fronts in the state.
He maintained the present government is committed for the welfare of its people under the leadership of the chief minister.
Earlier the message of the Advisor for Youth Resources and Sports, Zale Neikha was also streamed wherein he reminded the role and importance of education.
He encouraged the students and youths to take advantage of the added technology to develop their skills and learning.
Neikha also added that the state government is committed towards the welfare of the youth to harness its potential and to promote them for which it is focusing in the field of sports, music and other youth-centric activities and while also providing scholarship for talented sportspersons.
On the first day of the meet, various competitions were held including beat contest, photography, online chess, football freestyle challenge, basketball freestyle challenge, original song competition and folk fusion.
While the second and final day of the meet would be graced by the joint director and state project director- RUSA, Higher Education, Menuokholie Kire as the valedictory guest, while competitions like slam poetry and essay, quiz and painting, film craft presentation, innovation and designing will be conducted.
Academic excellence alone won’t take you far – Rio
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, in his message that was read out by Yhokha, conveyed that the top priority of the present government is to bring changes in every sphere of life and the top most priority is given to areas where positive changes can be brought out to affect the lives of young people.
He maintained that the government is aware that there are a lot of infrastructure developments and reforms in the social and economic sector that have to be taken up to bring the state at par with other developed states in the shortest possible time.
“The Government is also listening to the voice of the youth which includes the desire to live in a developed and prosperous Nagaland and every effort is being made to improve the welfare of the youth,” he added.
Rio stated, “it is now a fashion for young people to criticise the government and it is felt that instead of putting our full energy into criticising the government some youthful energy should also be used to encourage each other and march together hand-in- hand to bring smiles to the faces of even the people living in the remotest corner of our state”.
The chief minister maintained that in a competitive world mere academic excellence is not going to take a person far and he added, ‘there is a need to go much beyond the normal educational curriculum and place more focus on other skill developments such as sports, music, art, literature etc’.
Rio maintained that due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, online education systems have come in a big way to replace conventional learning methods, and yet he said, “However online education cannot fully replace the experience that one gets in colleges and students learning have been heavily affected”.
He also stressed on the importance of acquiring knowledge as much as possible to be prepared to compete globally while stating that, ‘we are living in the knowledge age and knowledge economy and those states or countries having the most accumulated or applied knowledge will be considered as more advanced.’
The chief minister encouraged the students to keep changing and adjust to the new environments while exhorting the students to believe in oneself and create one’s own future.
He said, “Today a forward looking state or country can be built only by good well- educated students with the right knowledge, right skills, right values, and right attitude”. He also reminded the students that ‘Nagas can no longer take life casually in this competitive world and have to catch up with the rest of the world in all areas of human development’.
“In the days to come there will be many challenges ahead of you but when you are determined to succeed you can handle anything that gets in your way”, he added.
