Education reforms in the pipeline—Advisor Kekhrielhoulie Yhome

• Proposals include multi-age classrooms for rural areas and new admission policy to boost government school enrolment
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Dr. Kekhrielhoulie Yhome speaking during the GHS Bayavü inauguration on Wednesday. (EM Images)

• KOHIMA — Advisor for School Education and SCERT, Dr. Kekhrielhoulie Yhome, on Wednesday highlighted the growing anxiety surrounding migration, noting that people are increasingly moving to urban areas in pursuit of better opportunities, leaving many villages abandoned.
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• While migration may be beyond control, he said, it places immense pressure on urban infrastructure—including schools—which must now cater to higher demand, even in smaller locations. He made this remark while inaugurating the newly upgraded Government High School (GHS) Bayavü in Kohima.

Dr. Kekhrielhoulie Yhome, L Jamithung, Razouseyi Vese and others during the GHS Bayavü inauguration on Wednesday. (EM Images)

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• Yhome underscored the challenges of Class 11 admissions in Kohima and Dimapur, where schools are already saturated due to infrastructural limitations.
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• Conversely, he noted that rural areas are facing the issue of low student enrolment. Despite the small number of students, the government cannot neglect these rural schools, which often leads to inefficient use of resources, as teachers must still be deployed.
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• To address this, he shared that the School Education department is working to reform the education system to better reflect the changing landscape. He explained the department's plan to introduce multi-age classrooms in rural areas. For instance, if there is one student in Class A, two in Class B, and none in Class 1, they would all be taught in the same classroom by two or three teachers, much like a kindergarten model. This, he said, would be a practical solution to optimise resources in sparsely populated schools.
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• Speaking on urban challenges, the legislator expressed concern over the lack of urban planning, stating that government and private schools, along with churches, are contributing to congestion.
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• He noted that many institutions are built without parking spaces, which causes major traffic disruptions—especially on Sundays in the case of churches. In his constituency alone, which includes three municipal wards and two villages, there are 160 churches—42 of them full-fledged, with others aspiring to be so—further adding to urban strain, he said.

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• Yhome also stressed the need to shift the public perception that only the underprivileged attend government schools. Contrary to popular belief, he said, government school teachers are well-qualified, as they undergo a stringent recruitment process.
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• He revealed that the department will soon begin withdrawing recognition from private schools that fail to ensure their teachers undergo B.Ed. training. While the state currently has the capacity to produce 600 B.Ed. graduates annually, he said there is still a need to scale up.
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• He also criticised the ease with which permits are granted to open schools, comparing the proliferation of poorly placed schools in Kohima to the unregulated spread of ‘paan shops’.
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• MoU among government schools
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• Stating that there is growing demand for government higher secondary schools, Yhome announced that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will soon be signed among government schools, ensuring that students who pass matriculation will be given priority admission—regardless of their grades—under a new government policy.

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• He acknowledged that many government schools still lack proper infrastructure but assured that their quality and reputation would be restored over time. He also noted that while many parents go into debt to educate their children in private schools, government schools offer free education—suggesting that boosting enrolment in public schools would ultimately benefit the state’s economy.
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• Kikruneinuo Liezietsu, a teacher at GHS Bayavü, presented the school’s report. She informed that the school currently has 26 teachers, including one assistant headmaster, and 289 students. To function effectively as a full-fledged high school, the institution urgently requires a science teacher and a multi-tasking staff (MTS).
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