By Dr. PS Lorin
Principal, Tetso College, Dimapur
Nagaland has a demography comprising mostly of first and second generation learners. Looking at educational Institutions in Nagaland, we are also fairly young compared to developed countries and even in India if we talk about Nalanda and Takshila institutions. They were centuries ahead of us. By and large, most Colleges and Universities in Nagaland were established in the late 90’s.
This puts us as minnows in a world where top institutions are hundreds of years old with nobel laureates, rich legacies and countless alumni and students in key positions all over the world. Our relative youthfulness can actually be taken as a positive thing though. Our institutions can learn from the institutions that have done great things before us, avoid their mistakes and be in a position to act on their best practices.
The reality for many of us with 15 to 20 years of teaching experience, this is a world that many of us may not be comfortable with – a world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a world that is shifting to paperless money. We all grew up in a different world, studied in a different education system and tackled very different problems. We may actually realise that we need to unlearn some of things we were taught while learning new things.
In this new world, the question is whether our own egos can handle the fact that younger people have access to more research information through the internet today, are more comfortable with technology, and are also more vocal to question existing status quo. The challenge for us is to be ambitious yet flexible enough, and open to learning in a constantly changing world to prepare our institutions for not just GenNext Nagas but for the entire world.
Nagaland Must Become an Educational Hub
Educational institutions are not just about promoting education but about synergising Industry, commerce, technology and society, the state and the country. Top educational institutions around the world also share a responsibility in promoting their cities and their countries citing the employment opportunities, the quality of life and the ease with which a student studying in their institute can get employment or a visa to settle down. If we keep losing our best brains from Nagaland to the rest of the world and country then it actually results in a brain drain where we lose some of our brightest people. People who can make our society more economically progressive and can create a positive impact in society.
My vision for an educational institution is to “Be the Best of the Best”. As we commit to this, we will need to empower ourselves to be a global player. Rooted in the vision, our mission should be to take educational institutions of the state to a higher level. Our mission is thus, to build educational institutions and make Nagaland as an educational hub in the country by attracting students across the world, across borders. Quality education must be ensured by providing all the necessary world class infrastructure and facilities. Imparting quality teaching and learning requires conviction, commitment, integrity, determination, and willingness to give by embracing modern technology and mechanism. Careful thought must be given to provide need based training at all levels for delivering necessary skills. But the challenge to attract, retain, educate and employ the brightest minds is not one that an educational institution alone can take up.
Clarity of Purpose
A clear message should be given out by all educational institutions that Nagaland is the destination instead of going anywhere else. If I may borrow an analogy from the Holy Bible, we cannot let the spirit be willing but let the flesh be left weak. At the same time, institutions must be willing to be open to social audit for accountability, while all those who are responsible in running educational institutions must ensure transparency to allow people of the state to spell out their expectations of educational institutions too.
Institutions in India had a much later start in comparison to European universities that have had more time to evolve and grow dating back to as early as 859 AD, and 1088 in which the University of Bologna, Italy was founded.
There is still much that needs to be done and a vacuum that needs to be filled, one that allows a free space for thinking and creativity to allow the State to flourish with citizens both right thinking, law abiding and that engage in constructive critical discussion. This is where the entrant of educational institutes become key in nation building.
Institutes must gear themselves up at the level of both direct and indirect resources in order to prove their capability, not as exclusive independent bodies, but also be open to collaboration and working together to accomplish the mission of imparting the kind of education to the GenNext that will equip them with skills useful to face the future.
Taking into consideration our Naga identity and cultural heritage, we must adapt it to our advantage and harness our strengths of valour and pride, positively. Our Naga students must work harder without complacency to compete with others taking advantage of well cultured traditional values and respect for elders.
Collective Responsibility and Accountability
If our vision to “Be the best of the best” is the goal, the growth of educational institutions and providing quality education depends much more on providing world class facilities and good infrastructure. While, educational institution will prosper in facilitating and sustaining its life, the kind of institutions we dream will be fulfilled only if both the main architects of educational institutions and the Government also play their respective roles at their own level.
I am confident that the existing Colleges and Universities in the state have the capability to develop campuses at par with international standards and should be able to compete with anybody and with any institutions across the globe, provided the Government also does its part on the whole. We cannot expect a wonderful result when educational institutions are not indirectly supported. Both direct and indirect responsibilities for progress and development are warranted for strong educational institutions.
- Direct Responsibility: Educational institutions must be held responsible for all round development. They must provide all the modern facilities including infrastructure fitted with digital equipment and continuous upgradation in tandem with the times. Academic programmes and services must not be neglected. Professional growth and placement matters for academic recognition. Community involvement and participation are other primary duties of educational institutions.
- Indirect Responsibility: Government’s responsibilities are paramount. It does not only control educational institutions through policy matters, instructions, directives in streamlining short and long term objectives of educational policy but over all developmental phases in their domain and jurisdiction. Quality education depends on how the system is built up by the government. Effective coordination is channelised by the governmental agencies at different levels through the Ministry of Human Resources, University Grants Commission, National Assessment and Accreditation Council and other related institutions. However, failure in delivering indirect responsibilities hampers the progress and growth of the educational institutions no matter how hard they may upgrade their system at their level. For instance, crumbling down of bridges, road dislocation, traffic jams, muddy road, electricity load shedding, waterlogging, and irregularity of services are serious impending unforeseen problems. In such conditions, investments in setting up of industries and allied sectors suffer and businesses are not expected to grow. While we
do not blame any one, if our economy is weak, our society cannot prosper. It is frustrating and disheartening to those who are seriously and sincerely giving their best for posterity. On the other hand, be it the Government or a Private College or University, the government is expected to usher in equal opportunity to all, after due review and a just verification process. At this juncture we can only hope to see a better future through indirect responsibilities.
By and large, on a positive note, much progress has been made among the Naga families in the past two decades who may be termed as first or second generation in our march towards an educated society. It is reassuring that there is a vast increase in educational institutions in Nagaland from nursery to Higher Education and Research. Studying outside of Nagaland particularly seeking higher degrees has also not significantly reduced yet, while a larger student population studying in Nagaland has proportionately increased.
Ultimately, our quest to be a premier education hub is a collective responsibility that rests with the Heads of the state Government, Vice Chancellors, Principals, and heads of various educational institutions and stakeholders, taking serious note on both our direct and indirect responsibilities.