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No teachers, no matriculates in North East Government schools for decades.
Villages like Kijumetouma and Keviphe in North East India have been completely forgotten as decades long empty posts for teachers haven’t been filled. The student enrolments are dwindling. The situation is impoverishing families as they are compelled to send their kids to private schools in towns.
11 million primary level students are out-of-school in India. This number is twice over of Pakistan. Isn't it a good time for a report card on inclusive education?
The report card will clearly give an abysmal picture. Primary education eludes many even today in our country. Even more if you hail from the picturesque North-east part of India. You may find it difficult to believe but the Keviphe village in Nagaland's Kohima district has not produced a single matriculate till date, according to a report. A shameful statistic for a country which has been independent for 70 years and boasts of institutes like IITs and IIMs.
The village received its only government primary school in 1978 and today the school has only one teacher. Even as long back as a decade, there were only 2 teachers who were subsequently suspended due to irregularity.
The existing 1 teacher manages four classes (I-IV) daily but her workload isn’t much as the total school strength is 8 students. Though a memorandum was sent by the Village Education Committee to the school education department to recruit more teachers, no action has been taken till now.
Moving on to another government school in Kijumetouma, the picture is no different here with the replacement of a teacher who was transferred two decades ago still in the works. This school was established in 1958, but the student enrolment has been dropping steadily.
This collective government apathy at all levels is proving disastrous for many families. Lack of options is driving the parents to send their children to private schools in towns, which costs much more. This is driving these families to poverty.