NECTAR team led by Avelu Ruho Joint Secretary, School Education, and Deputy Project Director of NECTAR receives the CIPS Innovation Award 2024 in the education sector from the J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in Srinagar on August 22. (Image Courtesy: DoSE)
Kohima, August 24 (MExN): The Performance Incentive Grants (PIG), a programme under the NECTAR project of the Department of School Education (DoSE), Nagaland, has been conferred the CIPS Innovation Award 2024 in the education sector.
The award was announced earlier this year by the Centre for Innovations in Public Systems (CIPS).
The NECTAR team, led by Avelu Ruho, Joint Secretary, School Education, and Deputy Project Director of NECTAR, received the award during the ‘CIPS Awards Ceremony – 2024’ held at the Directorate of Information, Srinagar, on August 22.
According to a DoSE release, a total of 226 applications were received from across the country. Of these, 83 projects were shortlisted and 34 underwent spot studies, with 21 projects across various sectors finally selected for the award.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Guest and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J\&K), Manoj Sinha, stressed that “people’s voice must be the soul of government policy” and that policymaking should be grounded in people’s needs and participation. He also stated that a file is not merely a piece of paper but is vital for the lives and future of citizens. Further noting that the value of any action is determined by its ability to improve lives, Sinha emphasised the need to consider these factors for more responsible and responsive governance.
Guest of Honour and Chief Secretary of J\&K, Atal Dulloo, stated that it takes courage to innovate, and that innovations should make lives simpler. He also said that bureaucratic innovations can accomplish in a few years what legislative practices cannot achieve in decades.
As per the release, CIPS is an autonomous centre of the Administrative Staff College of India, established by the Government of India. As a national body, the mission of CIPS is “to help create and nurture a climate for accelerating and diffusing innovations in public systems.” To this end, CIPS honours the best innovative practices by scouting and fostering new innovations that bring positive changes in the culture and structure of governance across states.
A total of 1,914 government schools in Nagaland have availed of the PIG, amounting to Rs 86.13 crore. This has significantly enhanced the capacities of School Management Committees (SMCs) and School Management and Development Committees (SMDCs) across the State, the release stated.
The PIG funding model promotes needs-based planning with a bottom-up approach, allowing decision-making by the people closest to seeing, feeling, and understanding the needs of schools. The flexibility in fund utilisation has enabled schools to tailor spending to their specific requirements while fostering community engagement and improving the learning environment. The programme has reinforced the role of the community as guardians of public institutions, it added.
The DoSE further extended its appreciation and gratitude to the District Administration, SMCs, SMDCs, and community leaders for their cooperation, active participation, and inputs, which have been instrumental in driving progress.
With support from the World Bank, the DoSE launched the ‘Nagaland Education Project- The Lighthouse – Nagaland Enhancing Classroom Teaching and Resources (NECTAR), with an aim to improve and enhance quality and learning outcomes of Government schools in Nagaland.
