Kohima: Even though Nagaland has around 10,000 surplus teachers in the government sector, KT Sukhalu, school education advisor said a “huge chunk” of teachers are “untrained” and also “untrainable”.
“We have moved a proposal to the Government of India (GoI) asking if they could assist the state and give a golden handshake for those teachers who can’t be trained, is untrainable or cannot teach the present subject matters and the new courses,” Sukhalu said in response to a supplementary question raised by MLA Yitachu.
Sukhalu informed that as per the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), there are 1,953 schools in Nagaland with 19,600 teachers of all categories with 850 teacher vacancies as of October this year.
He mentioned that there is an excess of teachers if the teacher-student ratio is analysed. However, he added that there are areas where teachers are required, including a shortage of mathematics and science teachers.
So far, 188 teaching posts are vacant for mathematics and science alone, of which 112 are for science teacher and 76 are for mathematics.
He said that as per the rules and norms of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), certain criteria need to be fulfilled for teachers.
When asked if certain relaxations can be made for Naga youth to be recruited without meeting criteria that require additional qualifications such as Bachelor of Education (B. Ed). He said it is very difficult, but the government can seek the intervention of the Centre for certain relaxation.
Tongpang Ozukum, minister for housing & mechanical, highlighted that as per a recent interview conducted by the Nagaland Education Mission Society, the number of applicants was lesser than the number of posts advertised.
He said that this indicates the number of non-qualified Naga youth despite several vacancies in the education sector, as teachers are required to meet certain qualifications.
He said there are over 300 vacancies for assistant headmasters, promotions of government education employees in the sector has been hampered all across the state. Due to the backlog, he said that there is now a shortage of education officers, even at the district level. In this regard, he said that the department is trying its best to work out a formula where some officers in the rank of Principal may be given additional charge. In case this method is not possible, he said that there may be a need to put in administrative officers to look after the education department.
He also expressed hope that the department may be allowed to conduct departmental exams as and when the court clears the ban on appointment to various departments.
He also said that certain issues such as the Eastern Nagaland Students’ Federation (ENSF) demand for 45% reservation in Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) is also hampering the government from implementing the NSSB.
When a proposal to conduct teachers recruitment for non-Nagas was raised, Sukhalu said that such an open exam was initiated earlier, but was opposed by the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF).