The Nagaland Education System: A Brief Analysis

Yanpvuo Kikon

[dropcap]2[/dropcap]3,639 students(Including Repeaters) appeared for HSLC exam this year, out of which 14,905 students cleared with an overall Passing % = 63.05
First of all a hearty congratulation to Mr. BUDDHIMAN, from Govt.High School,Tzurangkong for securing the 5th Position in HSLC exam, in spite of his school securing a passing percentage of 38.89%. He is a living example that everybody needs to emulate because he has proven that it doesn’t matter where you study; it doesn’t matter if your family is illiterate; it doesn’t matter if you come from a poor background because if you study and work hard you can reach the top and inspire everyone like he did. HSLC is just the beginning and he should continue to set new benchmarks in his higher education and shine throughout his career. Education is the power vested in us which can eliminate the socio-educational disparity and help us climb the social ladder through a legitimate process.
Nagaland Government needs to seriously evaluate the education system especially with regards to Government schools in our State! The purpose of having schools is to educate our future generation in order to build a progressive, brighter future for our State, NOT TO SHOVE OUR YOUNGER GENERATION TO BECOME DROPOUTS!
It is a general fact, that drop outs contribute to a major part of anti-social activities in any society, arising out of frustration because it triggers a trend where people who are stuck in the middle – Neither illiterate nor fully educated, because they can neither be employed in white/blue colour jobs nor as labour workforce thereby forcing many of these failed students to engage in illegal activities which impacts a society negatively contributing to a REGRESSIVE SOCIETY RATHER THAN A PROGRESSIVE ONE. THE QUESTION HERE IS: ARE GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS CONTRIBUTING TO PRODUCING EDUCATED YOUTHS OR DROP OUTS? Is our Government education system producing youths who can build our society or break it?
Here are the facts and figures to help you gather insights and draw your inferences on the performance of Education within our Government system.
6292 students appeared HSLC through Govt schools, out of which only 1693 passed, which means Govt schools have an overall passing percentage of 34.55% which means 65.45% of students have failed. 16,151 students appeared through private schools out of which 82.64% students passed!
Now why this huge variance of almost 50% between Govt and Private Schools?
IS PEFORMANCE OF STUDENTS RELATED TO TEACHER’S SALARY?
No! It is the opposite in fact. Government Graduate school teachers’ salary range from Rs.20,000 to Rs.50,000 while the best private school teachers’ salary range from Rs.7,000 to Rs.20,000 which is a shocking revelation! (Note that this income doesn’t take into account the tuition income of these teachers.)
DISTRICT WISE ASSESSMENT: GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
It is really disheartening to learn that in Mon, out of 819 students who appeared from Govt schools, only 77 passed! Kiphire is truly disappointing where out of 310 students appeared, only 6 students passed with just 1.94% passing in HSLC. Peren Govt schools seem to be the only bunch performing well compared to the rest and faring closely to Private schools.

DISTRICT WISE ASSESSMENT: PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Private schools in spite of teacher salary half of Government schools, are producing good results in every district. Except for 2 schools in Kohima and Mokokchung which produced 0% passing, all private schools have a reasonably good passing %.

THE BOTTOM LINE – ZERO PASSING PERCENTAGE:
WORST PERFORMING GOVT SCHOOLS( Zero Passing %)
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
Kohima
Govt.High School,Phenshunyu
Govt.High School,Nerhema
MOKOKCHUNG
Govt.High School,Longjang
Govt.High School,Longmisa
Govt.High School,Yisemyong
Govt.High School,Unger
TUENSANG
Govt.High School,Noksen
Govt.High School,Chimonger
Govt.High School,Panso
Govt.High School,Chingmei
Govt.High School,Chungtor
Govt.High School,Ngoungchung
Govt.High School,Chinmilen
Govt.High School,Chipur
Govt.High School,Thonoknyu
MON
Govt.High School,Chen
Govt.High School,Longching
Govt.High School,Mopong
Govt.High School,Chingkao
Govt.High School,Totokchingnyu
PHEK
Govt.High School,Thuvopisu
WOKHA
Govt.High School,Sanis
ZUNHEBOTO
Govt.High School,V.K.
Govt.High School,Xuivi
Govt.High School,Xamunuboto
Govt.High School,Kilomi
DIMAPUR
Govt.High School,Akahuto
Govt.High School,Aghunaqa

Govt.High School,Seyochung
Govt.High School,Anatongre
Govt.High School,Longmatra
Govt.High School,Chomi
LONGLENG
Govt.High School,Sakshi
Govt.High School,Bura Namsang
Govt.High School,Namching
Govt.High School,Pongo
Govt.High School,Kangching
Govt.High School,Yongnyah
PROXY TEACHERS: No amount of excuses can justify the case of Nagaland’s infamous proxy teacher problem. There are teachers who are doing business or other politically appointed jobs in the State capital or Dimapur while the students, who they are paid to educate are left at the mercy of their negligence. There are cases reported in The Naga Blog where these proxy teachers are standing right under the noses of the school inspectors yet no actions are taken. Unless such a practice is strictly checked, the lives of our younger generation are at stake. Words are not enough anymore, action is needed! If our politicians and department heads are serious about developing Nagaland then we expect to see a leader with an iron hand and strong will power to step in now.
UNQIUE SCENARIOS: Among Govt schools, 3 in Mokokchung, 1 in Phek and 1 in Peren secured 100% pass percentage and these schools should be lauded and provided with all the support. Other Government schools which reveal improving trends should also be encouraged. There are obviously a few good men and women out there who are selflessly serving and educating our youths in Government schools, even up to the extent of giving free tuitions to the children in remote towns and villages, these angels need to be identified and rewarded. However, at this point since the facts and figures are used as reference, hence the effort of these few good people is overshadowed by the corrupted bunch.
NON-DETENTION POLICY: An expert committee consisting of researchers need to re-evaluate this non-detention policy because according to Government teachers, they are forced to take in students from middle schools where student enrolment in Class 9 even reaches 190, where maximum of these students stay with their wards who pay less attention in educating these children.
According to an input from Aben Ozukum Andrew, Children who are likely to do well in the exams may opt for private schools to begin with thereby crediting the school for their achievements. Government schools have a very different set of children compared to private schools. The influence of such variables and other qualitative parameters need to be accounted for in the analysis. We need to responsibly interpret data and not presume that correlation equates to causation.
Despite cases like our topper Buddiman, there are some exceptional proactive cases where their inner urge to learn and study comes out but we must remember that children, during this age need to be mentored, guided and taught. Hence, the role of the school management and teachers play the most important role in influencing the performance of students.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: If every year, Nagaland Government is producing on an average 5000 dropouts then in the next 10 years we will have 50,000 dropout students. So unless immediate steps are taken either in the form of penalizing those schools and teachers neglecting their duties or working on improving those low performing schools and suspending the teachers in zero performing schools, our society will experience a major breakdown in the long run! Either shut down those schools which have been consistently producing drop outs instead of educated youths year after year or bring out new policies to introduce incentives or subsidies to private institutes within the vicinity of these black holes. Radical steps can also be introduced to privatize education through PPP mode by engaging Private schools which are doing much better than Govt schools. Because ultimately, if the purpose of education is not fulfilled then why allow these institutions to continue generating negative elements into the society.

(Source: HSLC 2015 Results. This is a personal view and analysis. Readers are encouraged to join in the debate in The Naga Blog www.facebook.com/groups/thenagablog)

Yanpvuo Kikon is an IT Program Management Consultant (State e-Mission Team) working for the Department of Electronics & Information Technology under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. He is also the founder of The Naga Blog on facebook.