Nagaland: Teachers told to restore public faith in government schools

Commissioner and Secretary of School Education and SCERT, Kevileno Angami, on Wednesday, challenged the newly promoted assistant headmasters (AHMs) and junior education officers (JEOs) to restore the faith of the public in government schools.

She was addressing the inauguration of the three-day in-house training for the newly promoted AHMs and JEOs at the Directorate of School Education, Kohima.

‘In the past, there were no private schools in the state and all the past leaders studied in government schools. At that time, teachers were not that qualified like today. Now, with the required degree and qualifications, people look up to the teachers to deliver, she told the gathering.

‘Restoring the faith of public in the government schools is dependent on us,’ she added while pointing out that one of the main reasons failing to improve government schools is lack of leadership and management.

‘But today, with elevation in their careers, teachers should be able to deliver to the people and tackle the challenges. What is the purpose of infrastructure development when (they) are unable to mould children?’ she asked.

There are 1939 government schools in Nagaland as per Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2021-2022. Out of 4 lakh students, about 1.64 lakh are in government schools, it was informed.

Director of School Education, Wonthungo Tsopoe told the teachers to ‘go beyond the training and apply their mind’ in order to solve problems.

‘We can’t go to the field without our dao (machete) sharpened. Today is the day to sharpen it’, he said.

Terming non performance of duty as a “dangerous trend”, he urged the teachers to be in their place of posting in order to address the problems faced by the education sector today.

‘Coordinate with teachers, SMCs, parents, and students and try to learn their problems. Imbibe dignity of labour in children and teach them how to be a good citizen in the society,’ he advised.

Maintaining that there are many teachers who abuse substance and are chain smokers, he said they should teach moral values of life to children.

The training programme is the first-of-its-kind after promotion of the teachers, it was informed.

Principal Director of School Education, Thavaseelan K, said the training is comprehensive in order to make sure they (AHMs and JEOS) are trained before taking up the new positions.

Saying that the department has its own problems, he called for working together towards resolving them.

‘Whatever the teachers do or do not do is going to affect millions of children,’ he said while encouraging them to work with their heart and soul every single day.

The three-day training programme will deal with orientation on office procedure, file management, noting and drafting, NECTAR project, basic account matters, maintenance of service book, NEP 2020, soft skills, inclusive education, etc.