Nagaland: Peace begins with acceptance of differences in classroom, teachers told

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 13 (EMN): Elaborating on the role of teachers, which is to create peace in the micro environment of the classroom, educationist, Bible teacher and social worker Nini Sekhose has urged the teachers to facilitate a generation that cares and sees the good in others as well as practice power of appreciation.

Sekhose stated this while speaking at a webinar on the role of teachers in peace building organised by the Peace Channel and NEISSR, Dimapur, in collaboration with Nagaland NGOs Forum (NNF) and Christian Forum Dimapur (CFD) on September 12.

While conceding that if peace education is about transforming negative situations of potential conflict into more positive situations, Sekhose said, “I believe this is what teachers do every day.”

Sharing about her school — Little Star Higher Secondary School — in Dimapur, Sekhose stated that teachers persevere to ensure that students are not judged by their colour or community or tribe as “peace begins with recognising and accepting differences in classroom”.

She also shared that in her school, they hold an ‘Anti-bullying Week’ for developing an environment of peaceful and respectful co-existence and also to reinforce moral values thereby emphasising on the hidden power of character.

Sekhose expressed that she endeavoured to instil in the teachers to think how to make a classroom and community a better place and how they could grow up to be a contributor in the society. She added that they hold ‘charity week’ in her school to teach the students to be compassionate and learn about the value of compassion and service to others.

“It overcomes racial or religious prejudices and engenders the feeling that all human beings are the same,” she stated.

Complex role of a teacher

Another resource person, Roseline Riha Dzuvicha, Reader at SCERT, expressed that the role of a teacher is becoming very complex and challenging because parents and society at large are focusing more on the marks scored by children, forgetting the behaviours and character of the child.

“We need to give awareness to the parents at large so that the children getting the highest marks do not guarantee him to become the best person in the society,” she stated.

She suggested that teachers should focus on building the behaviours and characters of the children, adding that both the parents and teachers need to have a paradigm shift in attitude toward teaching and what kind of future they wanted for the children.

She emphasised that teachers should instil both book knowledge and wisdom.

“We all have one main goal that is to have sustainable development. Sustainable development without peace is impossible,” she added.

She further mentioned that in SCERT, teachers are not taught directly about peace education but they focus more on content expertise of the teacher and also to develop their characters to be a teacher with integrity, discipline, diligence and wisdom. While advocating proper training for teachers, she stated that whatever the teachers teach or say in the classroom becomes the law for the children.

Acknowledging that teachers play a significant role in the personal development of children, she urged on focusing more on the capacity building of teachers. She concluded by stating that without the teachers, society cannot be shaped the way it wants to.

Director of Peace Channel, Fr. CP Anto, also stated that Nagaland could be a model state for peace. Vitono Haralu, trainer and consultant of Peace Channel, was the moderator of the webinar.