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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 10 (EMN): As the recently announced National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 focuses on digital education in the years to come, Principal Director of School Education Shanavas C has emphasised on the need for a convergence of various departments at state government level.
‘Everything will be digitised in the years to come. There is a need for a convergence at state government level; various departments need to come together, converge and go for digitisation,’ the principal director told Eastern Mirror on Wednesday, while maintaining that the NEP 2020 focuses more on digital, distance, and even vocational education.
‘For digital education, the first thing is to have good internet connectivity in every part of the state, which the state does not have currently. The School Education department cannot do the task alone. Besides, internet connection is needed not only for the schools but also for many other sectors including rural areas. In order to realise the digital education, department of Information Technology will have major role to play,’ he pointed out.
The School Education department is trying to bring out some proposals with their requirements, he said, adding that they will approach various other departments including IT, ‘to see in what way they can help the department’.
‘In due course of time, the department can ensure that there is connectivity in most of the part of the state,’ he said.
While giving an update on the status of NEP 2020 in the state, he said that ‘NEP has just come into force at the national level and the implementation has not started yet’.
‘At this point, it is a learning stage for the teachers. Some webinars are going on for the teachers on the new policy. Ultimately, it has to come down to the teachers and they have to understand what exactly the policy is. After the learning stage, we will have to modify the existing system according to the framework in the state level,’ Shanavas added.
By next year, the department expects the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to come up with a national curriculum framework (NCF), he said.
‘Once that is done, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and other sister departments have to come up with the state curriculum framework. Accordingly, the department will plan out activities,’ the official informed.
The principal director observed that NEP 2020 is a major change to the entire educational system and the implementation cannot happen over one year.
‘It is a major change especially in the lower section. For pre-primary stage, it is being taken care of by the anganwadi (under Social Welfare department) currently. Further, even mid-day-meal will come down to nursery, pre-primary up to Class 8 in the new policy.
‘Therefore, the integration of pre-primary and nursery with the School Education will take some time. The anganwadi under Social Welfare department will have to be integrated to our department. This is a major exercise which is going to happen,’ he said.
Mother tongue issue
One of the features of NEP 2020 is to teach in mother tongue and regional language up to Class 5. ‘However, such features may be difficult to implement in Nagaland owing to multiple dialects and sub-dialects. Therefore, that may not be possible in the state like Nagaland,’ he said.
‘The present system of MIL might continue maybe, as one subject. But the medium of transaction will be mostly English, though we are yet to take the final decision,’ he added.
The officer expressed hope that the Centre will provide some consideration on the matter, especially for the north-eastern states and Southern states.
Shanavas further informed that the first quarter of the mid-day-meal scheme started in the month of March, 2020.
‘The second quarter is going on. Commodities have already been dispatched to the respective schools, and they will distribute to the students,’ he informed.
‘Due to coronavirus pandemic, cooked food cannot be given to the children at the moment. Therefore, the dry commodities were given to the students,’ he added.