Delay in Nagaland Heritage Studies textbooks has hit Nagaland schools months into the 2026 academic session, affecting teaching and learning activities.
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KOHIMA — Months after the start of the 2026 academic session, the department of School Education in Nagaland is yet to dispatch textbooks for Nagaland Heritage Studies (NHS) across all tribal languages, affecting academic activities in schools.
Multiple schoolteachers, independently verified by Eastern Mirror, confirmed that the department has neither distributed the textbooks nor issued any communication on the matter this year.
NHS textbooks, which are usually supplied to students at the start of the session, have not reached schools so far.
Teachers said that they have been managing classes using textbooks from previous years, while some students have borrowed old copies.
However, they added that the inconsistency has adversely affected teaching and learning.
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NHS is a compulsory subject taught from Classes I to VIII in all government schools.
According to a notification issued by the Directorate of School Education (DoSE) on December 8, 2025, schools were directed to strictly follow the academic calendar for 2026.
Admissions for classes up to Class X were scheduled between January 12 and 22, with regular classes for Classes XI and XII beginning on January 13, and for pre-primary to Class X from January 27.
A subsequent circular issued on December 12 instructed district education officers (DEOs), senior sub-divisional education officers (Sr. SDEOs), and SDEOs to monitor admissions and ensure the timely commencement of classes.
Field officers were also directed to conduct WEC/SMC/SMDC meetings to boost enrolment and submit reports with geo-tagged photographs.
Sources said that many schools complied with these directives and have been functioning as scheduled.
However, concerns have emerged over the department’s insistence on “strict compliance” while essential textbooks remain unavailable, putting students at a disadvantage.
The academic calendar indicates that first-term examinations for Classes I to VII are scheduled from May 1 to 8.
Meanwhile, sources within the department said that the academic section had finalised the textbooks by January and expected them to be ready by February.
However, the books are yet to reach the department’s godown in Dimapur.
While some textbooks for certain classes have arrived, others are still pending, delaying distribution.
A lack of uniformity in the availability of textbooks across different tribal languages has been cited as a major challenge.
Although there were considerations to distribute the available stock, officials said that even for a single language, complete sets of textbooks from Classes I to VIII are not yet available, further prolonging the delay.