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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Dec. 5 (EMN): As a way forward and for effective implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 through understanding the education scenario in Nagaland, educationists on Saturday had a panel discussion on the policy in Kohima.
The topic discussed ranged from early childhood care and education to ways to curtail dropout rates, particularly at school levels, to higher education and teacher’s training etc.
The programme was organised by Nagaland Education Association (NEA) in collaboration with the directorate of School Education (DoSE).
President of NEA Dr. Zavise Rume said that the discussion was conducted to gain deeper understanding of the implementation of the new policy. Educationist should be in a position to know NEP thoroughly, he said, adding that more interactions would be initiated in the days to come.
Vice president of NEA, Dr. Bweyhungle Khing, in her keynote address, pointed out that NEP is the “greatest need of the hour”. The new policy, she said, seeks to transform and reform the entire structure of the Indian education system, starting from early childhood to university-level education.
Among many objectives, the NEP envisages to produce good human beings and train them to possess quality of compassion and empathy, courage and resilience, scientific temper and imagination, she added.
In order to make the new education system a success, everybody irrespective of their profession, has a role to play and must shoulder the responsibilities, Khing said. She called upon everyone to cultivate a deeper understanding of the new policy, work out plans and strive to make the state’s education system one of the best.
Principal Director of School Education, Shanavas C, pointed out the challenges of early childhood care and education: there are two education systems in Nagaland — government and private.
‘Formal education starts at Class A or ideally at the age of four. Whereas, the new policy is talking about formal education from the age of three,’ he said.
‘Further, there is a disparity between rural and urban areas in the state. Students of Class 1 in rural areas have a different understanding from their urban counterpart,’ he added.
There is a need for convergence of all the players — private, government, unorganised — to effectively implement early childhood education, he said.
Advisor to All Nagaland Private Schools Association, Pheluopfelie Kesiezie, said that students given early childhood care are able to perform much better. Those who come to school at early age become more adjustable and their learning is faster comparatively, he added.
Kesiezie pointed out that pre-primary is where a child starts to learn to talk, listen and socialise. Therefore, formal schooling should start from three, he added.
Chairman of NBSE, Asano Sekhose informed that the highest drop-out rates in the state is in Class 9. ‘The board is working together to curtail this issue,’ she said.
Sekhose added that proper preparation of students at foundational-level will help in addressing the dropout rates.
She expressed concern at the ‘huge migration of students from rural to urban schools’ seeking better education every year. This mindset of students, parents and society needs to change, she said, adding that every institution be it in rural or urban areas, aims to provide what is best for the students. The panellists also dwelled on the importance of national mission for universal foundational literacy and numeracy by 2025.
Former director of SCERT, Vipralhou Kesiezie, said that many students have failed to attain foundational literacy and numeracy. He called upon the government to adopt certain policies and remedial measures to address this problem. He also suggested that a convergence approach must be adopted to solve the problem.
Some of the other topics discussed included Teachers’ Eligibility Test, which ‘will surely enhance the quality of teaching profession’, introducing Continuous Professional Development, examination and evaluation, private schools accreditation etc.