Kohima: The Nagaland government has decided to revert 33 teachers who were transferred out of the eastern districts during the recent teacher rationalisation exercise, officials said on Thursday.
The decision on the reversion of teachers was taken at an emergency meeting chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by legislators from the Eastern Nagaland areas, including ministers C L John and P Paiwang Konyak and Advisor Wangpang Konyak, Advisor for School Education & SCERT Dr Kekhrielhoulie Yhome, Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen, Home Commissioner Abhijit Sinha and senior officials from the School Education Department.
The move comes in response to the ongoing agitation launched by the Eastern Nagaland Students’ Federation (ENSF) on Monday, which ordered the closure of government schools and offices in Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak, and Shamator. The federation has alleged that the rationalisation policy has left many schools without subject teachers, severely affecting students.
The Federation claimed that many teachers were transferred out without relievers against sanctioned posts.
Officials said the eastern region currently has 606 government schools with 45,174 students and 4,733 teachers, giving a pupil-teacher ratio of 10:1 as per UDISE 2024-25. The department explained that the rationalisation policy, approved by the Cabinet in August 2025, was intended to optimise teacher deployment but had unintentionally aggravated the staff deficit in the eastern region.
To address the crisis, the state government has decided to reinstate the 33 reverted teachers to their original postings; transfer Hindi, Maths, Science and other subject teachers from other districts back to their home districts in the east; post newly recruited Maths and Science teachers directly to schools in the six affected districts; convert vacant posts into subject-specific positions and advertise them openly to attract qualified candidates. As a temporary stopgap measure, the department has been asked to explore the community engagement of teachers until permanent solutions are in place.
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The government has also resolved to work with elected representatives and local administrations for a more region-sensitive rationalisation policy.
Following the assurances, the ENSF agreed to put its agitation on hold and will meet the government for discussions on September 20.
