• GHS Nsong at breaking point over teacher shortage
• School to remain shut until teachers are posted
Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 12
In a stark example of the teacher shortage plaguing rural Nagaland, the Government High School (GHS) Nsong in Peren district has a chowkidar (watchman) teaching Science and a carpenter teaching Mathematics to students.
Addressing a press conference here in Dimapur, the Nsong Students’ Union (NSU) said the school, the only high school in Nsong area catering to nine villages, has been functioning without a Science teacher for more than two years and recently lost its only English teacher as well.
It has alleged that a chowkidar and an assistant carpenter have been teaching Maths, Science, Social Science and English in lower classes, due to acute lack of teachers.
“This is our breaking point. Enough is enough. We demand a future for our Nsong students,” NSU president Rangtalak Pame said at the press conference, flanked by leaders from the Zeliangrong Students’ Union and Zeme Students’ Union.
The union said it travelled about 150 km to Dimapur to raise the issue after repeated appeals to the state education department failed. A seven-day ultimatum to post Science and English teachers, submitted on August 4, expired on Monday without response.
The school also functions without a Headmaster or Assistant Headmaster. In the absence of subject teachers, a vocational teacher is handling Science for Classes 8 to 10, while a graduate teacher of another subject is taking English. The chowkidar and carpenter have been roped in to teach Math, Science, Social Sciences, and English at lower classes.
“This is an outright violation of education standards, the right to education, and an insult to the dignity of teachers and students alike,” the NSU said.
The NSU, along with the Nsong Town Council, Nsong Village Council, Nsong Area Public Organisation and women’s societies, had on August 4 submitted a seven-day ultimatum to the Principal Director of School Education through the District Education Officer, Peren, for immediate posting of Science and English teachers.
After monitoring the education department for five years, the NSU president alleged that it is “one of the most corrupt” in the state. Since early 2023, the union has submitted 20 formal applications to authorities at the local, district and directorate levels, but the school has remained neglected despite having the highest Class 10 enrolment among government schools in Tening sub-division.
The Science teacher post has been lying vacant since March 2023 when a cross-transfer left the school without one. In September 2024, another teacher was officially posted to the school but never reported for duty. The department was informed but took no action for four months before transferring the absentee teacher back to her former posting under the “rationalisation” process.
While the school was still without a Science teacher, the department also transferred its only English teacher under the same rationalisation exercise, removing another crucial subject from the already understaffed workforce.
The school also functions without a Headmaster or Assistant Headmaster. The union thanked the remaining dedicated teachers for going beyond their means to give extra classes, but noted that in the absence of subject specialists, a vocational teacher is teaching Science in Classes 8 to 10, while a graduate teacher of another subject is handling English. The chowkidar and an assistant carpenter are teaching Math, Science, Social Sciences and English in the lower classes.
“This is an outright violation of education standards, the right to education, and a complete insult to the dignity of teachers and students alike,” the union asserted.
The NSU, supported by the Zeliangrong Students’ Union, Zeme Students’ Union and the nine villages under Nsong area, has issued a final ultimatum that if the department does not post qualified Science and English teachers within seven days of receiving the letter, it will take unified action including protests, legal intervention and institutional escalation.
The students’ body warned that the department will be held accountable for any disruption or consequences arising from continued negligence.
Even as the seven-day ultimatum expired on Monday, students, parents, and village and town councils in Nsong area began a peaceful protest in the village, declaring the school closed from August 12 until their demands are met.
