Loktimen
Nagaland has scored a point of 39 in SDG-4 target (Quality Education) recently published by Niti Aayog. It is the second worst performing state, only just behind Bihar in terms of SDG-4 ranking. But the state has a literacy rate of 79.55% which is above our National literacy rate as per the 2011 Census. The question remains: Why are we failing?
The literacy rate is just one indicator to show the level of education. The SDG report says that the ANER (Adjusted Net Enrollment Ratio) in elementary education (class 1-8) has dropped from 76.7 in 2019 to 67.38 in 2020. The drop in the ranking shows many lacunae present in our education system. Thanks to the pandemic, the education scenario has further aggravated the miseries of many families in the state. Even prior to 2020 pandemic, the standard of education was poor owing to many factors such as poor infrastructure, untrained/under qualified teachers, prevalence of ‘ghost’ teachers, financial burden and many irregularities within the system. The same SDG report says that only 36.03% of teachers at secondary level (class 9-10) are trained. It is reported that Nagaland has an excess of 11,000 teachers which is so unique than what the rest of India is facing today. The pandemic has provided us the X-ray report of our education system. It has shown our failures in 3A’s: Accessibility, Affordability and Availability. Lack of digital devices, resource accessibility, poor internet connection and unstable electricity has added woes for students and their families. A newspaper report says that students from a village in Zunhebeto district had to climb up to the mountain top in search of internet connection to attend classes. There will be many more similar stories like this which we are unheard of. Among the students, lack of physical schooling fails to provide for peer learning, competition and behavioral change leading it to academic regression. Teachers, like all others, are being affected by the pandemic and had to adopt new ways of digital teaching. Teachers had managed to interact with their students even though this way of teaching-learning has not been very effective.
We all have come across this simple line “Little drops of water make the mighty ocean” since our childhood. Likewise, we need to build a community-based approach by involving a network of all stakeholders. We should be innovative and creative in solving the crisis. Imparting knowledge along with skills enhancement activity to provide for holistic development of young generation is a need of hour today. Recently, a newspaper reports that a teacher from Kohima imparts her basket-making skills to her student during the pandemic. Our engine of growth should promote inclusion of all. Some initiatives taken by the government such as Digital lesson for students, Tablets for students in Aspirational District Kiphire, Mind Wars Project, SWAYAM, DISKHA Platform etc are notable steps to ensure inclusivity amidst the pandemic. The signing of 68 million USD loan with the World Bank to improve the quality of Education in Nagaland is very promising to tackle the structural problems faced within our education system. The announcement of reaching the target of establishing 750 EMRSs (Eklavya Model Residential Schools) by 2022 in the Budget 2021-22, 17 more are allocated for Nagaland, which would serve justice for the overall human development and social well-being of tribal populace living in the state. The New Education Policy 2020 sets to mark difference for the students by inculcating the spirit of critical thinking and scientific temper.
We are known to be a nation which brings the best solutions to our problems in letter only. Hence we lag behind to achieve our targets due to policy paralysis. The pandemic has been the litmus test for all of us, be it the government, teachers and students. I can say that the pandemic, nonetheless, has opened the gate for opportunities to correct our past mistakes and to realize the goal of SDG-4. Thus, all is not lost.
