Kohima, September 5 (MTNews): The State Level Teachers’ Day was celebrated at Capital Cultural Hall, Kohima on Monday with Chief Minister, Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio as the special guest. He presented the State Teacher’s Award 2022 to twenty (20) teachers and also awarded the Chief Minister’s Meritorious Students Fellowship to the Top 50 students in order of merit, of the HSLC Examinations 2020 and 2021.
The Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio, greeted the teachers on the occasion and said that teaching is a very noble profession that goes beyond simply imparting academic knowledge to students.
He said that the students look up to their teachers to help them discover their “ethical and moral compass” and to teach them values that will guide them throughout their entire lives.
Rio also mentioned the “Digital Teacher’s Diary” initiative, which would enable government teachers to record their progress in classroom teaching learning transactions, and expressed hope that through this there will be improvement in their performance.
Condemning the “practise of proxy teaching,” he announced that the government would soon launch the “Instructors Attendance Monitoring System” to address the issue and improve teachers’ attendance at their respective postings.
He also shared his concern regarding the School Education Department stating that the Department has the second largest number of employees in the State.
In remote villages with few private schools, he emphasized the importance of teachers, particularly those employed by the government. He noted that the teacher-to-student ratio in the State is 1:12, compared to the national average of 1:27, and that it is better in government schools at 1:7.
While admitting that government schools have fallen short of expectations, Rio urged government teachers and the Department to reflect and consider how they can compete with or outperform private schools.
Rio also commended the current Department leadership and staff for the hard work that they are putting in to address the issues facing the School Education Department.
He informed that the Government has mainstreamed the qualified eligible teachers who were recruited through open advertisement under erstwhile SSA and RMSA of 2010 and 2013 batches, and have been granted ROP 2010.
He stated that the State Government is also working towards strengthening the teacher recruitment process by making it more transparent by giving equal opportunity to all candidates desiring to take up teaching.
Advisor, School Education, K. T. Sukhalu commended the teachers who stayed in station and continued to give their best during the pandemic when the role of teachers were rapidly evolving, from teaching in the conventional mode of contact teaching to various mediums.
Sukhalu also called out those teachers who have been keeping proxies, and said that they not only are bad role models but also compromise the future of students, of generations and of the future of the State. He strongly condemned such practices and said that if there are teachers who do not want to serve, they should immediately resign rather than sacrifice the future of the students.
He appealed to all the Deputy Commissioners to take strict action, and engage the administrative offices to visit the schools, and submit the report of proxy teachers to the Department so that action can be taken.
He also informed that under various initiatives of the State Government, Samagra Shiksha, Government of India and World Bank funded NECTAR project, efforts are being made to reform the education sector in the State.
In order to improve performance in classroom interactions and the workplace, he said that professional development is now a regular activity. Additionally, he said that new areas will be explored to develop complementary skills for teachers’ personal and professional growth.