Context: Recently, Indian government, Government of Nagaland and the World Bank signed a $68 million project to enhance the governance of schools across Nagaland as well as to improve teaching practices and learning environments in select schools.

Key highlights of Nagaland Education Project

• It is World Bank funded project to enhance the governance of schools across Nagaland as well as to improve teaching practices and learning environments in select schools.

The objectives of the Nagaland Education Project are

• Improve classroom instruction;
• Create opportunities for the professional development of teachers; and
• Build technology systems to provide students and teachers with more access to blended and online learning as well as allow better monitoring of policies and programs.
• It is an integrated approach which will complement conventional delivery models and help mitigate the challenges posed by COVID-19.
• It aims to benefit 150,000 students and 20,000 teachers in the government education system in Nagaland.

Nagaland faces challenges of:

• Weak school infrastructure;
• Lack of opportunities for the professional development of teachers; and
• Limited capacity on the part of communities to partner effectively with the school system
• The COVID-19 pandemic has further accentuated these challenges and created additional stress and disruptions to the state’s school education system.
• There is a growing need to significantly improve learning outcomes to meet the demands of the labor market and fuel future growth.

Significance of Nagaland Education Project

• The human resources development plays a key role in any development strategy and the Government of India has taken several concrete steps to transform the education landscape in India.
• The education project in Nagaland will address the critical gaps faced by students and teachers and play an important role in the development of the state.
• The project is designed to support the Government of Nagaland’s ongoing efforts to improve and develop a more resilient education system in the state.
• The strengthening of Nagaland’s Education Management and Information System (EMIS) will enable:
• Wider access to education resources;
• Support professional development and performance evaluation systems for teachers and education managers;
• Facilitate school leadership and better management; and
• Support examination reforms

The project will support the state’s efforts to:

• Reform and improve the learning environment in schools so that they are child-centered;
• Supportive of modern, technology-enabled teaching and learning approaches; and
• Resilient to future shocks