Kohima, Feb 28: Nagaland needs a complete change of direction in its academic and economic priorities, with greater emphasis on Science education to address unemployment, a senior official said on Saturday.
Speaking at the National Science Day celebrations in Kohima, Science & Technology Department Principal Secretary I Himato Zhimomi said Nagaland has over 70,000 unemployed youths, while most graduates passing out each year are from the Arts stream.
Arguing that Science education offers stronger employment prospects, he urged parents, teachers and students to prioritise scientific disciplines.
“The economic foundation of the state must rest on engineers, doctors, technicians and researchers,” he said, stressing that sustained investment in science and technology would be central to achieving India’s goal of becoming a developed nation.
The National Science Day commemorates physicist CV Raman. The state marked the day with its first-ever state-level Science & Technology Awards.
The Outstanding Achievement in Science & Technology Award was jointly conferred on Sapu Changkija and Vinotsole Khamo. Sapu was recognised for his contributions to ethnobotany and sustainable farming systems, while Khamo was honoured for advancing clinical research and medical science facilities.
The Young Scientist Award was presented to Imlisongla Aier, a PhD graduate from IIT Delhi, for her work in clean energy, indoor air quality and environmental health.
Four projects were given research grants at the programme.
Among those were a facility for pathogenicity and drug discovery studies, research on optimising the jhum agro-ecosystem, a study on ichthyofaunal diversity and ecology of selected rivers in Noklak district, and a pilot study on tree diversity mapping and landscape assessment of the Japfu Range.(PTI)
