The Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) has resolved to continue with its ongoing agitation and escalate it to a more intensified third phase beginning September 18, following an emergency Presidential Meeting held at the federation’s office in Tuensang headquarters on Tuesday.
The decision came after deliberations on a letter received from the Department of School Education (DoSE), which had requested the federation to put its agitation on hold. The department’s letter (No. DSE/RATIONALIZATION/21-1/2023/103, dated September 15, 2025) stated that the rationalization order of August 22 had “restricted the review of the rationalization to only the 1650 teachers who were affected during the transfer/redeployment in February 2025.”
The department also assured in the letter that the concerns raised by ENSF regarding teacher shortages would be addressed by September 30.
ENSF, however, maintained that the department’s communication does not have “any commitment of addressing the Federation’s demand” and therefore decided not only to continue with its agitation but to intensify it further.
The federation stated that henceforth all directives regarding the agitation would be issued from its Control Room, and federating units were instructed to strictly adhere to them.
ENSF’s agitation stems from dissatisfaction with the rationalization order issued earlier this year, which affects 1,650 teachers redeployed in February 2025. The federation has accused the department of failing to resolve the issue within the deadline of September 3 set in its ultimatum.
The ENSF began its first phase of agitation on September 11 after its ultimatum to the department expired. During this phase, all federating units sealed the offices of the District Education Officers (DEO) and Sub-Divisional Education Officers (SDEO) across Eastern Nagaland.
The agitation followed a representation submitted to the DoSE on August 26, which sought the retention or redeployment of subject teachers in affected schools. ENSF said the lack of response from the department forced it to act. The rationalization order, originally issued in February and reissued on August 22, had been opposed by the federating units.
Reports indicate that the order affected 62 teachers in Longleng district, 45 in Mon, 24 in Tuensang, 15 in Shamator, and two each in Noklak and Kiphire, while 32 teachers were transferred out of the region altogether. The federation argued that this left many schools without adequate staff and demanded redeployment or appointment of replacements.
ENSF also highlighted grievances from the 2025 recruitment of science and mathematics teachers, which was earmarked for Eastern Nagaland. Of the 71 recruited, 12 were later transferred out. The federation viewed this as unjust since those posts were created specifically for the region.
Further concerns were raised about the DoSE overlooking guidelines set out in the Nagaland Extraordinary Gazette of November 9, 2017. These rules restrict the transfer of primary teachers outside their linguistic areas and stipulate that transfers should take place only in November and December, not in the middle of an academic session. ENSF maintained that the department had disregarded its own rules, exacerbating the crisis.
