DoSE Principal Director, Shashank Pratap Singh with others at the Golden Jubilee of GMS, Midland, Dimapur on November 7. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | November 10
The School Education Department is said to account for around 25 percent of the Nagaland state government’s entire salary and pension budget. This is despite private schools shouldering a substantial chunk of the education sector in the state, according to Shashank Pratap Singh, Principal Director, Department of School Education (DoSE).
Speaking at the golden jubilee of Government Middle School, Midland, in Dimapur, on November 10, Singh contrasted this with sectors like policing and public works where the state carries the entire burden alone.
“In the School Education department, we have a government player, and we have private players also. Whereas in other departments (sectors) like the police department, Works and Housing, there is no private player. Even then, when our efforts... are being supplemented by the private players, even then we are eating up 25 percent of the government salary and pension budget,” he said.
Singh further set this against central bodies from successive Finance Commissions to NITI Aayog insisting on Nagaland cutting the wage bill. The 16th Finance Commission has recommended ending the Revenue Deficit Grant that would cost Nagaland Rs 4000 to Rs 5000 crore annually.
While stating that a bloated government apparatus is not conducive to private enterprise, he said that overcoming the fiscal burden requires rationalising the workforce and restructuring what he termed has been a fragmented school network in the state.
According to him, having separate primary, middle, and high schools in a small area or in the same village forces children to change schools repeatedly, driving up dropout rates. He added that the department is addressing this by merging primary and high schools under single heads.
Singh also dispelled the notion that schools have fixed, sanctioned teacher posts. He clarified that teacher deployment depends strictly on enrolment and active class sections, not headcounts.
On the recent public stir over Government Higher Secondary School, Sungro, in Wokha, Singh termed claims of acute teacher shortages ill-informed. He said the school had nine teachers for five classes in its secondary and elementary wings, including two mathematics and two science teachers, at a time when math and science faculty remained scarce across the state. He claimed that the disruption occurred when two higher secondary teachers took maternity leave simultaneously. This was allegedly not reported to the higher authorities.
Singh also held that teachers at Sungro were taking only three classes a day, violating state service rules that mandate a minimum of four. He urged principals and administrative officers, all originally recruited as teachers, to enter classrooms when shortfalls arise.
“Why cannot our school teachers take atleast a minimum of four classes a day?” he posed, while stating that principals and vice principals can step in when there is shortage of teachers.
GMS Midland relocation
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, Singh confirmed relocating GMS Midland to a new site. The present school building, housing around 200 pupils, is located in a 95/36-foot plot. It hit the limelight after the already congested school building was found sharing rooms with a government medical sub-centre.
“This building does not have any scope for expansion... we have decided to shift to a better location,” he said, adding that the land acquisition proposal from the district administration will be submitted to the State Land Acquisition Authority.
While he did not specify a timeline, he said the process would be initiated “very soon”. He further informed that the existing building would be handed over to the Health Department.
Turning to teacher attendance, Singh stated that biometric tracking via the SMILE app will be strictly implemented backed by pay cuts.
