The importance of imparting skill-based over knowledge-based education to children was highlighted during the annual consultative workshop on child rights organised by the Development Association of Nagaland (DAN) on March 15 at DAN Training Centre.
A press release by DAN stated that the workshop held on the theme, “Skill education needs of the children in Nagaland in the context of NEP 2020” was organised with the stakeholders and beneficiaries of the child rights interventions of the organisation.
Speaking on the importance of skill education as the guest of honour, Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) CEO, Johnny Ruangmei, stated that there was a need to reinvent the education system.
“If we are to broaden our intellectual horizons and upgrade our physical limitations, then it is imperative that we start having these conversations in our schools,” said Ruangmei. He added that students are expected to be learners and creators.
Ruangmei also highlighted the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 measures to promote skill-based education in schools and tech tools to support personalized learning.
Delivering the keynote address, secretary, CEDoK and vice president, All Nagaland Private Schools Association (ANPSA), Rev. Fr. Jacob Charalel, said that students should have all sorts of outer knowledge with more practical work rather than just theory and bookish knowledge.
He pointed out that people give more importance to certificates rather than learning skills for life and that there are highly qualified individuals without required skills rendering to more unemployment.
Fr. Jacob also highlighted the principles of NEP 2020 and that it aims to ensure that children freely develop their interests rather than be imposed by someone else. In an input session, joint mission director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan, Dr. Chumbeni Kikon, stated that skill education was the need of the children.
She emphasised on NEP 2020 which aims to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in both private and government schools except for those managed by the central government. Dr. Kikon said the team was on a mission to reach out to students from both rural and urban areas under SSA. Till date, she said they are able to reach out to138 schools to have provided 10 different vocational training to 15000 (approx.) students from 16 districts. She emphasized the point that under NEP, provision of good infrastructure support, including well-equipped classrooms and laboratories are assured to ensure an optimal learning environment for students.
Dr. Kikon said the policy advocates the use of innovative and experiential pedagogies to enhance the learning experience of students. She said this includes the use of technology, peer learning, collaborative projects to create a more engaging and interactive learning environment.
Initiatives and interventions of DAN were highlighted by senior program officer, Jiji Joseph, while chairman of the Child Protection Committee (CPC) from Tuensang, Among, and Sulika, CPC member from Zunheboto, shared their experiences of their engagement with DAN.
The chairperson of the consultative workshop was Program Lead- Morung Project, Regina Kitha, invocation prayer was led by Rev. Sr. Irene CMC, the welcome song, was presented by the Children’s Parliament of Holy Child School, Dimapur and the welcome address was delivered by director DAN, Rev. Fr. Sajan Joseph.
A special song was presented by Rakoviluh Denuh of Saint John’s School, Diphupar B and a vote of thanks was proposed by Training Executive- Morung Project, Avino Zao. A total of 94 participants from eight districts attended the consultative workshop.