A.M.TOSHI.JAMIR
The main goal of many aspirant students is to pass the class 10 and 12 examinations conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education, go for higher studies and thereafter face the Nagaland Public Service Commission.
The NAGALAND BOARD OF SCHOOL EDUCATION, Kohima was established in the year 1974. During the 41 (forty one) years of its successful existence, it has been living up to the expectation of the people. To ascertain the fast growth in number of the successful students in Matriculation examination some years are shown below mentioning YEAR of appearance and the total number of students PASSED.
1990 passed 4269 ;1991 passed 4301;1992 passed 4385; 1993 passed 6021;
1994 passed 5938; 1995 passed 7919; 1996 passed in old course 2701; 1997 passed 3096; 1997 passed in old course 605; 1998 passed 4977; 1998 passed in old course 16; 1999 passed 8207; 2000 passed 5906; 2001 passed 5806; 2002 passed 6732; 2003 passed 7964; 2004 passed 9014; 2005 passed 10035; 2006 passed 9297; 2007 passed 12120; 2008 passed 12560; 2009 passed 10194; 2009 passed in old course 3780; 2010 passed 10725; 2010 old course passed 305; 2011 passed 12125; 2012 passed 12463; 2013 passed 13535; 2014 passed 14131; 2015 passed 14905.(Courtesy:NBSE-dt.4thAugust2015).There has been fast increase in the number of successful students.
The number of class ten passed students will be more than the above mentioned fiqures if the products of National Institute of Open Schooling; Central Board of Secondary Education; Indian School Certificate Examination and students passed out from institutions located outside the State are added up. Many of the
the matric passed out students pursue Higher Secondary studies in different streams attached with the Schools. Also, most of the colleges affiliated to the Nagaland University have plus two (class 11 & 12) streams attached with them physically ,though the examinations are conducted by the NBSE..
The establishment of NAGALAND UNIVERSITY in the year 1994 has facilitated the students to pursue higher education within the State during the past 21(twenty one) years. Besides other undergraduate and post graduate courses, it has been offering undergraduate degree courses in ARTS, SCIENCE and COMMERCE streams. As per the latest students’ enrolment figures made available, by the Department of Higher Education ( Annual Administrative Report,2013-14 ), there were 20,619 undergraduate degree students (excluding class 11 & 12 students) studying in the 61 affiliated colleges ( Govt colleges=6066 students & Private colleges =14553 students). Inspite of the migration of students outside the State for further studies, the majority remain within the State for further studies. The number of students passed in BA, B.Sc, and B.Com over the following 15 (fifteen) years or so may be seen from the following examples:
BACHELOR OF ARTS (BA):2000-01=passed 1507; 2001-02=1458; 2002-03=1560; 2003-04=2158; 2004-05=2075; 2005-06=1898; 2006-07=2873; 2007-08=1651; 2008-09=2343; 2009-10=2842; 2010-11=3338; 2011-12=3070; 2012-13=2976; 2013-14=6175; 2014-15=2836.
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE(B.Sc) :2000-01=passed 116; 2001-02=142; 2002-03=152; 2003-04=179; 2004-05=191; 2005-06=200; 2006-07=200; 2007-08=154; 2008-09=141; 2009-10=225; 2010-11=243; 2011-12=242; 2012-13=220; 2013-14= 455; 214-15=262.
BACHELOR OF COMMERCE(B.Com): 2000-01=passed 158; 2001-02=187; 2002–03=215; 2003-04= 279; 2004-05=354; 2005-06=343; 2006-07=417; 2007-08=375; 2008-09= 408; 2009-10= 374; 2010-11= 77; 2011-12= 397; 2012-13= 559; 2013-14=727; 2014-15= 531 .(Courtesy:NU dt.1st September 2015).
The most preferred stream is Arts, followed by Commerce and Science.The total number of graduates produced by the Nagaland University out of this three streams alone shall be around 3000 per year.These fiqures are excluding the graduates of NU Agriculture college; NU Engineering college; Indira Gandhi National Open University,Kohima; The Global Open University,Dimapur; Institute of Chartered and Financial Analysts of India University,Dimapur; National Institute of Technology,Dimapur; non-theological graduates from outside the State and also Theological graduates with Divinity from recognised Universities. The 26 (twenty six) theological colleges opened with government’s permission and other more or less equal number of theological colleges within the State are also producing hundreds of graduates for manning mostly the Christian fields/ institutions /activities.
Besides other functions, the Department of Technical Education looks after the selection and nomination of candidates to pursue undergraduate technical studies leading to degrees (after plus two science) and Diplomas (after plus two/matriculation as the case may be).This has also contributed in the increase of jobseekers. To take an example, the seats received for undergoing degree courses in different institutions during 2014-15 session are mentioned below:
Total of 120 seats under Medical and allied degree courses , namely, MBBS= 46;BDS=10;BV&AH=11; B.Sc.Nursing=9; and others 45. Again, another 151 seats under Engineering degree courses, namely, Civil=41; Mechanical= 28; Computer Science=17; Electrical= 14; Electronic and Communication= 12; Agriculture Engineering= 7; and others 32. (Courtesy:Nagaland Economic Survey–2014-15, Dte of Economics & Statistics, June 2015).
The Diploma courses are also pursued both within and outside the State. The above mentioned seats are excluding the seats arranged by some other agencies. The Department of Technical Education, Nagaland provides scholarship/stipend to the eligible technical students. Since, the selection and nomination of candidates is an annual feature, we can presume that more or less that same number of candidates are returning to the State after the completion of their studies which approximately involves between four to six years. This has also worsen the problem of educated unemployment within the State. Except for some seats under engineering degree courses (that is,under SETAM NU, Dimapur, etc,) and some seats under B.Sc Agriculture course at SASARD Medziphema, the above mentioned degree courses are pursued by the State government nominees in the professional and technical institutions located outside Nagaland.
The Directorate of Higher and Technical Education established in 1983 was bifurcated into Directorate of Higher Education and Directorate of Technical Education from 1.10.2004. However, only from 2006-07 the matter regarding the selection and nomination of candidates for professional and technical studies was passed on to the Directorate of Technical Education.
To determine the approximate number of non-technical students studying both within and outside Nagaland, the number of scholarship beneficiaries being handled every year by the Directorate of Higher Education, Kohima appears to be the better available yardstick at present.
During the 2013-14 academic session, out of the total of 47,023 students beneficiaries (including class 11 & 12 students ), 42,913 were studying in Nagaland and the rest (4,110) were studying outside. These fiqures are exclusive of the negligible number of students who do not avail scholarships.To help the students, the following types of financial assistances are given, (provided ,they fulfil the eligibility conditions) ,namely, Post Matric Central Scholarship, by Govt of India, to the Scheduled Tribe students of Nagaland; Post Matric Scholarship to the
Students belonging to the Minority Community of Nagaland funded by Govt of India; North Eastern Council’s Stipend & Book Grant to the students of North Eastern region for Higher Professional studies; Nagaland Merit Scholarship for the meritorious students of Nagaland funded by Govt of Nagaland and Nagaland Research Scholarship funded by the Govt of Nagaland. Besides the monthly fixed amount of scholarships for a period of twelve months or less, the tuition fees paid by the students to the educational institutions are also re-imbursed (with certain limits) under certain types of scholarships. The total amount of the above mentioned financial assistance provided to the students during 2013-14 academic session were Rs.33,28,70,412 (Rupees Thirty Three Crore,Twenty Eight Lakh,Seventy Thousand,and Four Hundred Twelve). Courtesy:Dte of Higher Education, dt.7th September 2015).
After successful crossing of the academic hurdles/examinations , many of the aspiring technical; non-technical and other eligible candidates converge at the premises of the Nagaland Public Service Commission, Kohima to compete for various posts vacancies.
The Nagaland Public Service Commission was established in 1965 as a recruitment Agency/Department by the Government of Nagaland. It also performs other assigned responsibilities. The first Chairman of the Commission was appointed from 3.3.1966. During the 50 (fifty) years of its functioning ,many positive changes had taken place. The year 2015 is the GOLDEN JUBILEE YEAR for the NPSC.
Presently, the recruitment of the candidates to various posts are done mainly under three categories, namely,Non-Technical Examination (for recruitment to NCS,NPS,NSS & allied services); Combined Technical Services Examination( for recruitment to Medical Officers, Engineers, and so on); and Educational Services Examination ( for recruitment as Assistant Professors, Lecturers, Post Graduate Teachers and Librarians ). It also conducts examination for appointment of LDA-cum-Computer Operator, Stenographers and other special recruitment which the State Government entrusts.
The number of eligible Graduate and Post- Graduate jobseekers in the Technical, Non-Technical and Educational sectors processed through the Nagaland Public Service may be summarized below showing the latest trends.
(i).NON-TECHNICAL EXAMINATION (NCS,NPS,NSS & ALLIED SERVICES) LEADING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF EXTRA ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER/DEPUTY
SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE /SECRETARIAT ASSISTANT IN NAGALAND CIVIL SECRETARIAT & OTHER SERVICES. Some of the examples under OTHER SERVICES
are ,namely,District Transport Officer; Inspector of Supply,Labour,Industries & Commerce,Excise,Taxes,Home Guards & Civil Defence; Junior Divisional Accountant,Economic Invistigator under Industries & Commerce,Block Development Officer;Information Assistant under I&PR department;Information
Assisstant under Art & Culture department;Youth Resources Officer;Station Superintendent under NST, and so on.
The number of candidates desiring to become Officers or any other available posts in the non-technical category has increased very fast during the past years.The number of applications received during the following few years will substantiate this point:2004-05=5610 applicants for 94 posts vacancies; 2005-06= 8099 applicants for 106 posts ; 2006-07= 7945 applicants for 64 posts; 2007-08= 8651 applicants for 83 posts; 2008-09= 7916 applicants for 54 posts; 2009-10= 10655 applicants for 80 posts; 2010-11=12209 applicants for 138 posts; 2011-12=15673 applicants for 110 posts; 2012-13=15202 applicants for 71 posts; 2013-14= 13942 applicants for 72 posts; 2015-16= 15196 applicants for 86 posts.
For the convenience of the candidates, the NPSC (non-technical)Preliminary Examinations are presently held in the following district headquarters, namely, Kohima, Mokokchung ,Tuensang, Dimapur and Mon. Thereafter, the qualified candidates sit in the Main Written Examination.( Courtesy:NPSC dt.12th November 2015 and others).
As regards the yearly prevailing condition in our neighbouring State (s), the Assam Public Service Commission conducted the Combined Competitive (Preliminary)Examination, 2013 in 155 Centres spread over 23 district for which there were 70,132 candidates. ( Courtesy: Guwahati Paper, dt 30th December 2013).
(ii).COMBINED TECHNICAL SERVICES EXAMINATION LEADING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF MEDICAL OFFICERS/ENGINEERS & OTHERS: Some examples under OTHERS are, namely,Veterinary Assistant Surgeon; Assistant Conservator of Forest;Assistant Geologist;Assistant Planning Officer;Extension officer under Sericulture Department; Junior Soil Conservation Officer; Inspector of Agriculture;
Inspector of Legal Metrology and Consumer Protection;Assistant Public Prosecutor;Forest Ranger;Draughtsman under Urban development, and so on.
In view of the increase in the number of seats received every year from the Govt of India (and others) to pursue undergraduate Professional & Allied and Technical studies, the number of candidates seeking for employment after graduation and post-Graduation have correspondingly increased. This may be seen from the number of applications received during the following few years:2003-04=1148 applicants for 37 posts; 2004-05=2023 applicants for 60 posts; 2005-06=1287 applicants for 97 posts; 2006-07= 2941 applicants for 83 posts 83 posts ; 2007-08= 1163 applicants for 55 posts ; 2008-09= 789 applicants for 56 posts; 2009-10= 1364 applicants for 95 posts; 2010-11=2458 applicants for 132 posts; 2011-12= 1383 applicants for 82 posts; 2012-13=1340 applicants for 83 posts ; 2014-15= 2765 applicants for 139 posts. In this category, the one-time written examination is followed by Viva-Voce/Interview. (Courtesy: NPSC dt.12th November 2015).
(iii).NAGALAND EDUCATIONAL SERVICE EXAMINATION LEADING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AND LIBRARIAN FOR GOVT COLLEGES UNDER HIGHER EDUCATION ;LECTURER IN DISTRICT INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNDER SCHOOL EDUCATION;POST GRADUATE TEACHER FOR HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL UNDER SCHOOL EDUCATION:
The candidates have to undergo Written examination once, followed by Viva-Voce /Oral examination. The conduct of written examination separately for the appointment of the above mentioned personnel is the recent innovation of the State Government initiated by the NPSC and the Education Departments. This has been necessitated due to the increase in the number of jobseekers under this category and also to assess the applicants comprehensively.
The increase in the number of applicants under this service may also be seen from the following few years. During 2007-08=1090 applicants for 18 posts; 2008-09= 535 applicants for 69 posts; 2009-10= 1423 applicants for 109 posts; 2012= 1623 applicants for 70 posts ; 2013-14= 1035 applicants for 54 posts; 2015= 750 applicants for 43 posts. (Courtesy:NPSC dt.12th November 2015).
As on 31st March 1964, the total number of State Government Employees in Nagaland stood at 8311 in the then 21(twenty-one) departments. The break-ups of these State employees by Religion may be seen as follows: Christians= 6098 + Hindus=1856 + Muslims = 63 + Sikhs= 13 + others = 280. Total = 8311.The Christians consisted of about 73 percent of the State employees and the rest 27
percent were non-Christians. Today, the percentage of Christian employees in the State government sector is likely to be nearly hundred percent. The number of
Departments have also increased from 21 to 65 at present.(Courtesy: Statistical Hand Book of Nagaland, 1965 & Nagaland Government Diary, 2015).
The number of State Government Employees as on 31.3.2014 are recorded as follows:Class-I Gazetted 4796 + Class-II Gazetted 4220 + Grade-III Non-Gazetted 70993 + Grade IV employees 16,872 =Total 96,881 (regularized employees).The number of Casual/Fixed Paid/Worked Charged employees stood at more than 28,428. Regular employees 96,881 + others 28,428 = 1,40,053 . (Courtesy:Finance Department, dt.24.2.2015).The Employees and Population Ratio stood at around 1:14 basing on 2011 Nagaland Population Census.
The engagement of excess employees in any office establishment(s) especially under the Public Sector leads to UNDEREMPLOYMENT , which means withdrawal of certain number of employees from the establishment(s) is not likely to lower the production nor affect the productivity. Presence of more employees does not always guarantee the regular movement of Office Files/Letters which is a
pre-requisite towards progress. Since retrenchment /reduction in manpower-size involves many problems, what is preferred is to conduct periodical drive to expedite the timely movement of Office Files/Letters and to enforce regularity in office/duty attendance. Slow Files/Letters movement ;irregularity in duty performances and inability to submit Utilisation Certificates/Reports at the right time appear to be the major obstacles progress.
After having observed all these happenings in and around us, one can safely come to the conclusion that the academic journey of the aspiring students from NBSE to NPSC is indeed a lengthy one involving around Twenty years or so (starting from class-A / Nursery to graduation / post- graduation level).Every year, educated youth converge at the NPSC premises only to find out that there is no enough jobs to accommodate them. Thus, under such a circumstance, the jobseekers may continue to seek for employment opportunities more vigorously beyond the horizon of the State.
(Note: A.M.Toshi.Jamir is the former Director, Higher Education, Government of Nagaland).
