Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 17
MLA and Advisor for Industries and Commerce, Hekani Jakhalu called for the removal of the stigma associated with government schools. She held that the public education system has produced some of Nagaland’s top achievers.
“People often say, ‘Oh, it's a government school,’ and we don’t think they will do well. But some of the best, some of the top young people who are doing well are from government schools,” said Jakhalu at a programme marking the inauguration of a new building for the Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS), Purana Bazar, Dimapur, on April 17.
According to her, it would be misconceived to assume that success is reserved only for students in private institutions. She cited Rüzhükhrie Government Higher Secondary School in Kohima as an example, noting it has produced numerous doctors, government officers, and business leaders.
She said success is determined by labour rather than background, stating, “Success is 99 percent hard work and 1 percent luck.”
GHSS Purana Bazar traces the year of its origin to 1961. It was taken over by the government in 1978 and later upgraded to Government Higher Secondary School in 2017.
She urged the local community to regard the school as their own and contribute to making it one of the best-performing schools in the state. She further urged government employees, irrespective of their sector, to justify their salaries through their performance. “Am I doing justice to the salary that I am drawing?” she posed, while terming education of students as a moral obligation to the state.
Principal of GHSS Purana Bazar, Pipi Gloria Chishi, said that the institution has maintained a high standard of performance despite functioning for years in a building she described as “dilapidated and very unsafe.” The school achieved a pass rate of over 90 percent in the 2025 Higher Secondary examinations. Chishi attributed this success to the “Mentor-Mentee” programme introduced for Class 12 students in 2024, and which will be extended to Class 10 students starting 2026.
She reported that her pupils secured the first-position in the Innovative Science Working Model Exhibition, organised by the Department of Science and Technology, for two consecutive years, 2024 and 2025. “Competing alongside some of the finest private students, they have proven that talent, when supported and inspired, knows no boundaries,” Chishi stated.
However, Chishi noted one demographic challenge the institution faced as a government school in an urban area. According to her, approximately 80 percent of the students in the shool migrate from remote parts of the state. Many remain at the school for only one or two years “due to changing circumstances,” which Chishi said makes it “challenging to nurture and guide them consistently throughout their schooling.”
Principal Chishi highlighted the absence of a Commerce stream in any government higher secondary school in Dimapur, and requested the department consider introducing the stream at GHSS Purana Bazar. Additionally, she proposed converting the site of the old, demolished school building into a playground to serve the students and the wider urban community.
Commissioner and Secretary for School Education and SCERT, Kevileno Angami, stated the new school building was completed between 2019 and 2025 through State Plan funding and a loan from NABARD.
She admitted to oversight challenges the department faces, but said that it can be overcome with the proactive participation of the local community. “Wherever the community has interest in the human resources, our schools have been able to (succeed),” she said, while urging the faculty to ensure students become “assets” to society rather than liabilities.
