Out of 37854, a total of 27069 qualified the High School Leaving Certificates (HSLC) and High Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) examinations 2020 conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education.
Successful candidates, as well as their parents or guardians, are faced with the most difficult question: What’s next?
More often than not, there is no clear answer and at present, the dilemma is compounded by the uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had been significantly disrupting the normal way of life across the globe.
Restricting this analysis to higher education and economy, it is clear the challenges would continue for a long time.
More than 1.5 billion students from pre-primary to university-level have been affected by closures associated with the pandemic, the UNESCO estimated in March.
To weather the current crisis, the higher education system needs to act quickly, think innovatively and work collaboratively, the UN suggested.
For many students, apart from the immediate predicament of what and where to study, the current crisis has propelled them into a drastically uncharted territory where conventional learning method no longer seems to apply.
Are those at the helm of affairs in Nagaland geared up to mitigate the impact? The response of the system handling the higher education in the state – the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) and Technical Education (DTE), is crucial to mitigate the impact.
Such measures are not much visible presently. For instance, while DHE has had between active in social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook in recent years, a coordinated approach is missing. Take the case of DHE’s Facebook page; it is linked to a defunct DTE website, while on Twitter, no link is given. DTE’s social media pages, however, were properly linked.
One is none the wiser visiting the DHE’s website via the departmental sites listed on the official Government of Nagaland portal. The ‘latest’ data on the ‘Higher Education at a glance’ section of the site pertains to 2016-17. While the ‘new’ DTE website is more up-to-date, other than basic information on exams, it has nothing much to offer.
At the implementation level, it is heartening to observe many educational institutions transiting to the online registration process as the new admission session begins.
However, it is uncertain how the existing system of learning would migrate to the new paradigm. At risk is the apparent digital divide which could widen due to the current crisis and affect learning outcome. Many students, particularly, in the rural areas would it difficult due to resource crunch as well as accessibility problem.
The laxity at the top would help on one and the DHE should join hands with Nagaland University to put in place relevant policy measures.
Another crucial concern is the economy and by extension, the impact on employment.
The COVID-19 pandemic is unleashing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, noted the United Nations recently.
For students passing out this year, the opening in the labour market in Nagaland would be much thinner when they join in the next 3-4 years.
As of on December 31, 2019, the State had 90,584 applicants remaining on the live register of employment exchanges. It is consistently increasing in recent years and saw the biggest spike last year with 27, 317 fresh applicants according to an official report of the Directorate of Employment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. The data does not include unregistered job seekers.
With 1, 27,889 employees are under its payroll, the saturated government sector is ‘overstaffed,’ and can hardly accommodate a little more than 2500 annually assuming an attrition rate of 2%. What would happen to the rest?
Besides, the current crisis is generating a massive reverse migration. Reportedly, 18,350 stranded citizens are registered in the ‘Returnee declaration form.” Most have lost their livelihood and in all probability would join the labour market.
Collectively, the figure is intimidating must worry any government. With life upended, both within and outside the state, the figure on job seekers may burgeon in the future.
It is therefore imperative that the Nagaland Government comes out relevant policy initiatives to meet the challenges and mitigate the impact. Beyond rhetoric, by now, policy measures on meeting these challenges should be in place or atleast White Papers should be circulating among stakeholders.
