Nagaland School Edu Dept responds to demand for abolition of post of Principal Director

Following the demand of the Rising People’s Party (RPP) to abolish the post of Principal Director of School Education over the poor performance of government schools in this year’s High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination, which was widely carried in the local media, the department has issued a clarification “in the interest of the public” on Friday, appended by the principal director of School Education, Shanavas C.

It may be stated that the RPP had raised the demand for the abolition of the post of Principal Director after the government high schools recorded 36.62% pass percentage in the HSLC examination 2022, down from 44.86% in 2021 and the lowest in six years, while 33 schools recorded nil result.

Learning loss due to pandemic

In regards to the decrease in pass percentage of government school students, while accepting the poor performance, the department of School Education said that there is overall decrease in pass percentage in the state level, including private schools, due to the pandemic related issues. “It is pertinent to mention that the candidates of the HSLC 2022 batch suffered considerable amount of learning loss when they were in class 9 in the year 2020 as well as in class 10 during the year 2021,” the DoSE reasoned.

Shortage of Math/Science teachers

It was also mentioned that, in spite of the best efforts of the department to rationalize teachers, the state faces acute shortage of Mathematics and Science teachers and this too is a reason behind the decline in the examination results. It was also said that, as approved by the Cabinet, the department has already issued notification for recruitment of 63 numbers of Graduate Teachers (Math) and 92 numbers of Graduate Teachers (Science). “The recruitment process will be completed soon. This will help the department to address the issue of shortage of Math & Science Teachers in the State,” it said.

No headmasters in 135 schools

Explaining that the issue of poor performance of students from government schools is a complex issue, the department revealed that, out of 251 Government High Schools in the state, nearly 135 schools were not having Headmasters due to court cases between different groups of teachers. It also said that the department is now finalizing the seniority of Graduate Teachers and promotions to the post of Assistant Headmasters will be carried out shortly. “Another issue faced by the department is the instability in managing the posts of District Education Offices and Sub Divisional Education Offices.

In Educational Administration, the District Education Officers and Sub Divisional Education Officers play important roles in regards to Inspection and Supervision for the improvement of School Administration. Unfortunately, officers at the verge of retirement are posted to these crucial posts due to unavailability of sufficient number of eligible officers with reasonable service period remaining and this short coming of instability in the District and Sub Divisional Educational administration remains unresolved,” the department explained.

On Light House project

In regards to the Light House (Nagaland Enhancing Classroom Teaching and Resources) project, the department said that it is a 5-year mega project introduced in 2021 which aims to bring systematic changes from the grass root level of the education system. Saying that planning and analysing the present status of the system is essential for taking forward the project to the implementation stage, it was informed that the department has completed preparation of the position papers and changes can be brought gradually once the project is implemented starting from the grass root level.

Teacher Attendance Monitoring System (TAMS), Education Management Information System( EMIS), Performance Incentive Grant(PIG) for SMC/SMDC and Creation of Light House School Complexes are some of the activities in the pipeline, it informed, adding that details of the NECTAR project can be accessed at the website www.nagalandeduproject.com or public are welcome at the NECTAR office at the Directorate of School Education to know the details of the project.

On Post of Principal Director

In regard to the issue of keeping IAS officers as Principal Director, School Education, it was clarified that the matter comes under the purview of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training). “The cadre allotment was done vide the Indian Administrative Service (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Fourth Amendment Regulations, 2015 (Notification No. G.S.R. 1021(E), Dated, 30th December 2015 and the department is obliged to follow the regulations,” it said.

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