Al Ngullie
Dimapur | August 5
Assessment efforts are already in process in the state’s department of School Education to bring under communitization the managerial aspects of administration in all government high schools and higher secondary schools in Nagaland. In this reform, authority would be decentralized enabling local entities to exercise some of the powers/functions of an institute’s administration.
This major reform policy also envisages to bring about a more professional, result-oriented output from the government teachers. At present, only government primary schools and middle schools are covered under the communitization programme.
It was informed that the Minister for School Education Imkong Imchen will be forwarding this reform package in the Nagaland Cabinet very soon. For now, while due assessment efforts, feasibility explorations etc. are being undertaken by the Education department’s officers, this reform proposal is expected to be discussed at the next State Education Council (SEC) meet. The council’s meeting is scheduled for within this month itself. In this meeting, the proposed reform would be discussed and on approval, be recommended to the Nagaland Cabinet, said Minster Imchen.
The objectives for bringing under communitization the higher schools are two-fold. In the first place, the reform envisages to exact greater professional output and accountability from the government teachers; Secondly, a greater involvement of the civil society in the management of High schools and higher secondary schools so that the teaching-learning process is balanced by managerial check from civil society.
This is notable highlight of the reform. It would be the first time civil society would be asked to involve in the management of the state’s education system. Minister Imchen said that a management body consisting of representatives from the concern district administration, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), civil society, educationists and civil personalities would comprise the managing body. He said this would be giving significant authority to local entities, in line with communitization, under the Nagaland Communitization Act.
He was of the view that the local people’s involvement would be a better instrument to bringing about better educational performance from the teacher and the taught alike. Moreover, heads of the schools are not always in a position to take upon themselves the responsibility of teaching and administration. For this reason the civil society can intervene in a corrective way, Imchen said adding that their role would be impartial.
To the query if the reform would encompass private educational institutions, Minister Imchen said this would not be possible. But if at all such an arrangement could be worked out, it would only be on a shared-basis. It would be mutual, if at all the private institutions could come under the communitization reform, said Minister Imchen.
The Nagaland Communitization Act 2002, already a success story, was instated to address welfare ‘from the people’s viewpoint.’ Under communitization, a board/committee is instituted to represent communities, and then undertake a task specified from a local level. The Act provides for a decentralized system where the board/committee is delegated the powers of the government specific to a task.
