Each year, the announcement of results by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) follows a familiar script. Headlines focus on toppers, pass percentages, and the number of government schools with poor results. Toppers express gratitude, communities celebrate rank holders, and institutions issue congratulatory messages. While this ritual has become part of public life, it is worth asking whether the system it celebrates still serves students well.
The ranking system in HSLC and HSSLC examinations has long shaped (mis)perceptions of success. It also creates intense pressure and narrows the definition of achievement. For many students, this results in anxiety, unhealthy competition and a sense of inadequacy that lingers beyond the examination hall. Education, ideally, should nurture understanding, curiosity and growth, not reduce learning to a race for ranks.
The National Education Policy 2020 calls for a shift towards competency-based evaluation and holistic assessment. The CBSE and the ICSE follows a grading system. Several state boards have already begun this transition. The Assam State School Education Board is the latest to announce that it will discontinue the declaration of toppers from the next academic session. These changes reflect a broader recognition that learning outcomes cannot be fully captured through ranks alone.
In Nagaland, emotional attachment to rankings remains strong, and any change may face resistance as generations have been conditioned to believe that the ranking system is the only measure of success. Yet, reform is necessary. Moving towards a grading system would reduce undue pressure and encourage a healthier academic environment. It would shift attention from memorization to understanding, and from comparison to individual progress.
The time has come to reconsider what is being celebrated. If education is to prepare students for life beyond examinations, then the system must evolve. Let results day reflect not just who stands first, but how well the system supports every learner.
Meanwhile, come April 24, media houses in Nagaland will once again carry interviews with toppers as ‘news’, where they thank teachers, parents and God for their success, a routine that repeats each year. It is time to move beyond this predictable cycle and rethink what truly matters in education.