Dr. Ch. Sarajubala Devi conducted a research study entitled “A Baseline Study of Language Preference of School Students and Parents in North East Region”. The research was conducted to look into the preferred languages in education by the parents and students in the North East Region. Data was collected from four states of North East i.e. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. 10 communities from Nagaland – Angami, Ao, Chakeshang, Chang, Khiamniungan, Lotha, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimkhing and Konyak language speakers, 7 communities each from Assam (Assamese, Bodo, Deuri, Karbi, Mising, Nepali and Rabha language speakers) and Manipur (Anal, Maola, Pumai, Maram, Tangkhul, Thadou-Kuki and Maram language speakers) along with two languages Nyshi and Tagin language community from Arunachal Pradesh was taken for the research. The questionnaire was administered to 1099 parents and 1117 students of the communities mentioned. Overall the research has revealed that the most preferred language to get education is English as it is linked with the higher education and the jobs, the next preferred language is the Hindi as it is considered a language which will enable them to communicate in every corner of India. Except for the larger communities like Assamese and Manipuri all the language speakers feel that opportunity lies in English so it is the ultimate choice. However, every community feels that they also should learn their respective mother tongues and schools with adequate number of teachers and resources would serve the purpose. It is also observed that in the states of Manipur and Assam the regional language or the state official/dominant language are studied widely and also people prefer to learn it. It is interesting to note that in the state of Nagaland people want to learn Hindi along with English and Mother tongues. Although Hindi has almost become a lingua franca in Arunachal Pradesh Hindi does not became a preferred language to acquire knowledge, they learn Hindi as a part of the school curriculum but hardly read in Hindi.

Dr. Tulika Dey coordinated the research project entitled ‘Factors contributing to Suicide amongst School adolescents in Sikkim: The case of Gangtok and Pakyong Districts’, under National Population Education Project (NPEP). The oobjectives of the research project is (i) to find out the magnitude of suicide amongst School Adolescents of Gangtok and Pakyong Districts, Sikkim, (ii)To study the factors contributing to suicide amongst School Adolescents of Gangtok and Pakyong Districts, Sikkim and (iii) To plan / design strategies for interventions to reduce the menace of suicide amongst School Adolescents of Gangtok and Pakyong Districts, Sikkim. A descriptive survey method was followed in carrying out the study. The sample for carrying out the study was collected from randomly selected 25 elementary and / or secondary schools of Gangtok and Pakyong Districts, Sikkim. The subject/ key informants of the study included the School Adolescents, Teachers (100), Head Teachers (25), SMC members (50) spread over 26 randomly selected schools. Purposive/ incidental sampling techniques were followed in selection of schools and selection of key informants. The data were collected with the help of separately constructed interview schedules for head teachers, questionnaires for teachers, SMC members/ parents/ supervisors and Focus Group Discussion for student informants. The quantitative portion of data was analysed with the help of percentage and the qualitative portion of data was analysed with the help of thick description of opinions, events, situations derived from the analysis of data. It was found that the factors contributing to suicide amongst school adolescents are – most of the students are domestic helpers, children witness domestic violence among parents, separation of parents, lack of love and affection from family, relationship between parents and children are not good, family ethics and value is very poor, casual relationship among boys and girls, adolescent marriage is also prevalent, peer pressure, alcoholism, substance use is beyond control, around 10% of students are with good family values, parents come to school with complains but never comes with solution, most of their parents are illiterate, no professional and trained counsellors in school, boys are more vulnerable for substance abuse, girls are more vulnerable for sexual activity, girls are also seen to indulge in substance abuse nowadays, no provision for co-curricular activities in Sikkim, parents don’t take any interest in their wards studies and emotional wellbeing, some parents do not even turn up for PTA, students engage themselves in household works, parents compare them with other kids or siblings, POCSO cases are also there in the school, after Covid Pandemic there is a huge gap and it has been not yet possible to bridge that gap till now, almost in all school’s students are of migrant family i.e., from Bihar, Nepal and their parents work as taxi driver, works in garage, shops and as daily wage earners.

Appointment of Counsellors in each school/ training at least two teachers from the existing teachers of the schools by DGC course conducted by NERIE. Advocacy programmes to generate awareness among parents and among students on how to deal with the ups and downs of life and to value life and not to experiment with life. Emotional Quotient to be given as much importance as Intelligence Quotient in school curriculum to ensure the students’ well-being. Community efforts to restore harmony in the Society. PTA to discuss issues about growing unhappiness among children, emotional imbalance. Appointment of Student Ambassador. Peer counselling. Administration to take measures to check inflow of drugs into the state. Awareness raising on issues related to substance abuse.

The objective of the study was to identify the diverse and specific problems faced by the adolescents in the state of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the factors contributing to these problems. The sample of the study was consisted of adolescent school going students aged 13 to 19 years, heads of schools, teachers and parents. Purposive sampling technique was adopted in selection of the sample. Questionnaire, interview schedule and focus group discussion were employed in the collection of data. The study revealed that around 60% of the school heads in the State of Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram have identified indiscipline and social media addictions are the major problems of adolescent students in these states. It is interesting to note that majority of the students in Tripura have the problem of consuming tobacco/betel, which is the highest among the states under study. Indiscipline and truancy were recorded highest in the state of Mizoram. About one-fourth of the teachers in Nagaland noted the problem of disobedience among their students. Majority of the heads of the States of Nagaland and Assam stated that students with problems are the ones whose parents have a drinking problem and those who come from disturbed families.

Majority of the teachers in all the states considered family problems as the main reason which contributed to adolescence having problems such as indiscipline, truancy disobedience. Peer pressure and overindulgence of parents, high expectations from parents and the influence of social media, poor parental motivation, lack of parental guidance and desire for gadgets were some of the problems faced by the adolescents. Majority of the teachers in Assam strongly agreed that social media has negatively affected students’ studies.

The research study was conducted on the major objective to find out the problem faced by classes I to V students of Assam and Manipur in learning of mathematics and language. and Manipur. The data for the study was collected through a questionnaire from 84 students studying in Class I to V in the randomly selected elementary schools of Assam and Manipur. The study reveals that as the children in class I and class II are better in reading and reading comprehension, e.g. the reading ability of the students’ decline as they go up class wise, percentage of difficulty score Class I and II are below 30%, in Class IV it is 34.56%, in Class III it is 43.26%, while for Class V it is 50.65%. Children progress in reading (simply decoding) as they move up class wise. Girls showed higher percentage of difficulty in reading (53%) than boys (47%). Similarly, in writing the score goes down as they progressed in their classes. The percentage of students unable to answer the questions with clues was the least for Class II (8.70%), followed by Class I (11.66%), Class IV (15.24%), Class V (18.58%) and Class III (22.66%). A good percentage of girls showed difficulty in writing compared to boys.

The objectives of the study were to find out the magnitude of Early Marriage amongst girl children of Dasda block of Tripura State; to find out the age at first marriage among girl children of Dasda block of Tripura State; to study the factors contributing to early marriage amongst girl children as perceived by teachers, parents, community leaders and the victims of early marriage; and to plan / design strategies for interventions to curb the menace of early marriage amongst girl children of Dasda block of Tripura State. The date was collected from teachers, students, parents, and school heads of five secondary and higher secondary schools of Dasda block of Tripura State with the help of interview schedules and focus group discussions. The study revealed that early marriage is prevalent among Reang Tribal Community which leads to teenage pregnancy, abortion and first pregnancy within one year. Most of the early marriages happen between 15 and 16 years of age; The usual types of marriages are marriage by elopement and love marriage. Grooms like drivers, carpenters, small shop owners, low educated youth, college students are selected usually from the locality. Girls are found unhappy after marriage. In many cases, girls remain separated from in-laws after marriage. However, the schools do not organize any systematic adolescent education programs. Most of the girls are aware of the minimum age of marriage. The Child Rights Protection Agency is active in the study area. It is a noticed that a few girls from each sample schools marry every year. Grooms, in most cases, are found to dropout from education soon after marriage and no discussion about early marriage are held in SMC or PTA meetings

The study was conducted with the objectives of knowing the perception of the community members, parents, students, teacher’s/ teacher educators and educational functionaries on mother tongue education and mother tongue education programmes and finding out the views of the community members (the speakers of the particular language) vis-a-vis language education. Though Mizoram has four distinct languages, the Mizo, (the dominant language), the Chakma, the Lai, and the Pawi, the data of the study was limited to only Chakma and the Mizos. The research data were collected from the parents, the community members, the teachers, the educational functionaries and the students. The study reveals that Mizo language as a subject is studied in all the schools. Mizo language is the preferred language of instruction in almost all the schools except in a few elite English medium schools. The Mizo people have a positive attitude in learning Mizo as they perceive that this will enhance better learning outcome, will preserve identity, culture and it is expected that many more policies and programmes will enhance mother tongue learning programmes. The Chakma language is not used in the school system because of which the students belonging to the community are not achieving the desired results. This group of people really longed for bringing their language to the system, however, the socio-cultural, economic and political factors would play a role in making the breakthrough. It also reveals that there is dearth of teaching learning material, availability of writers and teachers in the language.

One of the historical moments of the NCERT’s Foundation Day, 2018 was the handing over of the Bhoirymbong Block, Ri Bhoi District, Meghalaya by Shri L Rymbui, the Minister of Education; Government of Meghalaya to the North East Regional Institute of Education, Shillong. Ribhoi is one of the Districts of Meghalaya, with an area of 2,378 Sq Km. There are four Community and Rural Development Blocks namely; Umsning, Umling, Jirang and Bhoirymbong. The District headquarter is located at Nongpoh. This study however is confined to Bhoirymbong Block of Ri Bhoi District, which is also the aspirational district of the State of Meghalaya. The Block, comprises of ten Clusters namely; Umroi, Umeit, Bhoirymbong, Nongtraw, Mawbri, Liarbang, Kyrdem, Klew, Mawlasnai and Tyrso. The Block has 198 schools, 999 teachers and 16223 students studying form Lower primary to Higher Secondary level. NERIE has been conducting various activities in Bhoirymbong Block under Ri-Bhoi District. The Institute conducted Baseline Achievement Survey on 30th April 2019 and on 2ne May 2019. School Questionnaire, Teacher’s Questionnaire and Student’s Questionnaire also used to collect the background data of the schools in the block. An Orientation Programme for Block Resource Persons on filling up of the OMR sheets for school, teacher and pupil was organized from 17 to 18 July 2029. Another training programme of KRPs for Bhoirymbong Block was conducted by NERIE from 22nd -26th July 2029. A science Exhibition was organized for the students of this block on 1st October 2091 at Umroi Presbytarian School, 300 students from class V –XII attended the Exhibition. In addition to this a Student Mela in the theme ‘Enjoying, Learning and Growing Together’ was organized on 13/3/2020 at RBP Synod School, 220 students including 17 CWSN children attended the mela. 10 Faculty Members have been assigned 10 CRCs for Onsite support. A general school related observation data collected reveals that: many schools are equipped with proper and ventilated classrooms, proper seating arrangements are made for the students and toilet facilities. However, Teaching -Learning materials, laboratories and libraries were not seen in most of the schools. Many teachers in the lower Primary classes were Class 12 passed but the ones who teach in the Upper Primary level are mostly graduates. There are some good practices in the block which include regular parent teacher meeting, good involvement of the Church and the community’s pro-active role in the educational activities.

The main aim of the present study is to find out the factors contributing to teachers and student’s absenteeism at the elementary school level in Hill areas of Manipur. As per the data collected it has been found out that in Churachandpur District 93.10% of teachers and in the schools of Tengnoupal district 84.62% of teachers are regularly absent from the school. From both the Districts, the main reasons towards teacher’s absenteeism are poor working condition, lack of job satisfaction, relaxed school policies on absenteeism, seeking additional income, transportation problems, fellow co-operative attitude, bad weather and regular bandh, The findings indicates that from both the districts poor health condition, financial difficulties, child work/house errands, death parents, insecurity in classroom, language problem, regular bandh, lack of transportation as the schools are located in the interior villages, poor health conditions, peer groupings, unsupportive family environment, poor health, peer grouping, unsupportive family environment, failure in examinations, death of parents, financial difficulties as well as communication problems among others, are the main reasons for absenteeism among the students. The findings also show that a total of 65.52% students are absent for 2-3 weeks from the school in a month.

The main objective of the study is to evaluate the in-service training programmes conducted by DERT, DIETs, SSA and RMSA of Meghalaya. All the DIETs and DERT had conducted various training programmes during the year 2013 to 2018 with a total number of 119 in-service training programmes. The training programmes were conducted in all the districts of Meghalaya. The findings revealed that about 95% did not conduct any need- based assessment before proposing the training programme. Development of training module/ package is not a focused area. In other words, training module/ package was not developed before the conduct of the training programme. There is no distribution of training module/package. Most of which were downloaded from NCERT website. Teachers had gained much knowlege on constructivist approach during the training programme, but some of them could not implement them in classroom teaching. As reported, teachers still lack in the understanding of this approach. Teacher educators felt that there should be training on proper understanding about constructivist approach to apply in their teaching. They felt that new teaching methods learnt during the training programme are not applied practically in the classroom. Teachers need to understand the significance of child/learner-centric approach more thoroughly. More training programmes related to enrichment of the content as well as the pedagogical aspect in all the subject areas need to be conducted. They express that during the training, they need to get more experience on hands-on activities and emphasis should also be on training other important and emerging areas. The data reveals that in some of the DIET’s evaluation of the training was conducted with the help of feedback format and questionnaires. There was lack of follow up after conducting every training programme. No follow up procedures were conducted by the concerned authorities. The training programmes as revealed by the teachers were not subject/ area centered. Teachers were invited to attend the training regardless of their subject background or area of specialization.
SSA and RMSA had conducted a number of training programmes on Mathematic for the lower and upper primary level in various parts of the State. An intensive programme to improve the quality of learning in Mathematics was initiated in class 1 and 2 in 50 schools spread all over the districts of Meghalaya. SSA Meghalaya in collaboration with Jodo Gyan had conducted follow up meetings at the block/cluster level. It was also mentioned that regular school visits were made by the BRCs/CRCs to check the effectiveness of sustainable development in Mathematics. 6 RPs were identified for regular school visits. Inspite of less number of teaching staff present in the SSA schools, long deputation hampers the students classes in completion of their syllabus during the training programme. The issues faced by SSA/ RMSA training programmes was fund constraints and improper training centres.
Some of the issues and challenges are lack of resource persons, financial (delay in receiving the funds at times), lack of computers/ projectors, science/ maths labs, educational kits, transportation and accomodation problems, as there were lack of hostel facilities, delay in receiving the deputation letters on time for the teachers, time constraints, infrastructure constraints such as lackof training hall/ room for conducting training programme, drinking water facilities, electricity, power point facililties, rooms were very congested etc., These are some of the hurdles encountered.

A research was conducted with the objectives to identify the diverse and specific problems faced by the adolescents in the state of Sikkim and Meghalaya, to study the causes of these problems in adolescents. The tools used for the study were interview schedule for the head of schools and parents, students and questionnaire for teachers and focus group discussions. The sample for the study includes students from the age group 10 to 19 years, Headmaster, teachers and parents from 20 schools each from the state of Sikkim and Meghalaya. The findings show that majority of the rural and urban male and female did not agree that their friends can force them in doing things which they do not like. Teachers’ opined that student’s problems include truancy, indiscipline bullying, destruction of school s infrastructure, disobedience, smoking and eating of tobacco/betel etc. They said that these issues were mainly due family problems, lack of parental guidance, lack of motivation by parents, academic problems, broken families, disturbed families as well as alcoholic parents and social media.

The research was taken up under NPEP. The data have been collected from the secondary school students of Assam, Meghalaya and Sikkim. A questionnaire on various emotional and behavioral aspects of students, interviews with school children, to identify vulnerability to addiction were used for the study. Preliminary results show that a large number of adolescents are at-risk for substance abuse. The out of school children are especially vulnerable and have little information about substance abuse.

The research was conducted to identify the feelings of students in different areas such as worry, happy, trust, fun, school, teacher, tests, home and friends. From the findings, it is revealed that around 74.9% of students are having healthy emotions where 18.1% are unhealthy and 7 % are uncertain. Further, the results were revealed under various domains and areas such as by gender, by grade level under happiness, fun at school and with friends, trust, loneliness, about school and test, level of happiness with teacher and friends, at school and at home. Interestingly, highest level of happiness with teachers were shown at the lowest level as 29.2 % while, 49.2 % were with family members.

The average number of students per teacher in the educational years of 2016-2017, and 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 was collected along with the examination results of the students and the qualification of the teachers from ten secondary schools of Bhoirymbong block. The sample covered 5CRCs, two schools from each CRC. The respondents of the study include, Principals, headmasters, teachers, CRC officials. The research findings revealed that high pupil student ratio at secondary level affected the academic performance of the students. Even though, statistically there was no significant negative correlation between the PTR ratio and the achievement of the student. The study also revealed that gender is totally independent on the PTR and the academic performance.

Objectives of the Study are to assess the impact of the training programmes conducted by NERIE in the period 2006- 2013 with regard to the intended objectives, to identify the reasons for low impact if any and to suggest measures to make the training programmes more effective. Data was collected from 82 participants from the 8 northeastern states. Results show that most participants found the training programmes conducted by NERIE to effective and relevant to their needs. Almost all respondents felt that participating in these trainings has improved their teaching proficiency in school. The major difficulties reported were related to long distance of commutation and short notice for the training. As regards the training material that was provided, a few respondents reported that that the material was very theoretical and lacked examples and illustrations at times.

The objective of this qualitative research was to understand the reasons behind teenage pregnancies. Once understood, effective interventions will be planned to arrest the rate of teenage motherhood. In depth interviews were conducted. Results showed that most respondents were ‘Happy’ with their motherhood. They showed no knowledge of how motherhood had affected their chances in life. Dropout was found to be caused by and was also a cause of, motherhood. Not being engaged in meaningful activities and being left uncared for when the mother was at work could be a reason for high incidence of teenage motherhood but it needs to be investigated further. High incidence of teenage motherhood could also be caused due to relatively higher level of social tolerance for it. The respondents showed lack of awareness about the health risks (birth weight, premature birth) of early motherhood and had less awareness about child rearing.

The objective of the program is to identify the children with Learning Difficulties in the elementary schools of Nagaland; to study the enabling factors available for children with Learning Difficulties in learning process at elementary stage; and, to study the support systems available for children with Learning Difficulties in the elementary schools of Nagaland. Two days meeting on Finalization of the Tool was organized on 25 and 26 September, 2018 at NERIE, Umiam. Five external resource persons having wide experience in inclusive education were invited and attended the meeting. As an output from the meeting two proforma for collecting data were finalized, they are, Proforma A: Checklist for Identifying children with learning difficulties and Proforma B: Checklist for identifying support systems for educating children with learning difficulties. Sample of the study were 99 schools and 711 students from the elementary level schools from 10 districts of Nagaland. From the result, was revealed that around 3.99% of students studying in Govt. schools at elementary level are having learning difficulties whereas only 0.26% of students from Private schools are having Learning Difficulties. Also, it was found that maximum of the schools at elementary levels in Nagaland are not equipped/provided required supports to children with learning difficulties in terms of infrastructure, teaching learning process, other educational supports, supports for equality, transition and moral & emotional supports.

The main objective of the study is to study the factors contributing to gradual decrease in enrollment rates of the government schools at elementary level in Tripura. The main factors affecting school enrolment in the government school in Tripura is the preference for English Medium School, in which many of the private schools; their medium of instruction is English. It seems that there is always a competition between Government schools with private school especially in urban school where many of the parents felt satisfied may be because they prefer to send their children to these schools that have from pre- primary level (play school), KG to X/ XII; since they do not have to shift their children from one school to other school. It was found out that in many Government schools they have classes from I to VIII only. In rural school, parents sent their children to the school because of the Mid- Day Meal. In other words parents are sending their children to the school just for the sake of food. Other problems in these schools include irregularity of the teachers, less number of teachers where Head teacher or teachers have to be engaged in all the official work, since there is no group D or peon or clerk in some of these Government schools. Communication problem is one of the main problems that students are facing and the school authorities did not provide any transportation to the students. They have to walk many kilometers in order to reach the school. Another factor in rural areas we found out that early marriages are very common and these students are studying in Class VII.

This is a two-year research-cum-documentation initiated in January, 2017 funded by PAC, NCERT. Data were collected from the Sign language native signers from the different states of NE region. The method of data collection was carried out through a series of video recordings of a selected vocabulary. The objectives of the study are to strengthen educational materials and resources in the education of hearing impaired/Deaf children and to provide relevant linguistic information to teachers particularly language teachers. The documented Sign languages operating in the region has been compiled in a web-based application known as ‘NESL Sign Bank’. This NESL: SignBank provides online access to sign languages in the context of school education. It is an online educational resource that contains information regarding the types of sign languages used by the deaf community. This Web App has been developed using free online software programs (open source) which aim at supporting the education of d/Deaf people across the region. The App was awarded with the Jury Appreciation Award (New Media/ICT category) at the 22nd All Indian Children’s Educational Audio-Video Festival & ICT Mela, 2018. This documentation although completed and compiled, it still need further investigations into the language use amongst the deaf community. Due to limited time, the App incorporates only a limited data of 3000 words approximately. It has potential for increasing the database and integration of supporting materials in sign language for school education.

Objectives of the Study are to assess the impact of the training programmes conducted by NERIE in the period 2006- 2013 with regard to the intended objectives, to identify the reasons for low impact if any and to suggest measures to make the training programmes more effective. The study will use a blend of qualitative and quantitative techniques. A baseline impact will be ascertained in terms of number of persons trained and the extent to which they have further trained others as well as their own assessment of the benefits of the various training programmes. Apart from this, a qualitative in-depth analysis of the nature and extent of impact of the training programmes in terms of changes in the pedagogy used, attitudes and actual implementation/ use of the training will be taken up. The study will follow the steps of a program evaluation study. The programme theory, programme logic model, evaluation framework etc will be developed to outline the study. The counterfeit will be explored. The sample size would be decided in the planning exercise as there are eight states. The random sampling technique would be used to derive the sample.The tools such as, interviews schedules, questionnaires, focus group discussion, achievement tests, classroom observation schedules etc will be developed. The above study has been initiated towards the end of the year.

The objectives of this study are to identify the factors contributing to student’s absenteeism at the elementary school level in tribal concentrated areas in the state of Tripura vis-à-vis the common factors such as gender, location of schools, etc. Such factors may contribute to students’ absenteeism at the elementary school and this study aims at providing suggestions to reduce absenteeism. Random sampling of 20 schools in four tribal blocks of Tripura, i.e., Mandwi RD Block, Jampuijala RD Block, Chawmanu RD Block and Ganganagar RD Block was the main focus area of the study. Students, Parents, Teachers and Heads of Schools constituted the sample of the study. Qualitative type of method was adopted in this study and the tools includes viz, questionnaire to capture information on the socio-economic conditions, the linguistic and cultural backdrop, the geographical background, etc. Interview scheduled (un- structured) and focus group discussion were also used. The findings of this study showed that some of the students were found attending schools only 2-3 days in a month. For those who are regularly absent, they were always absent for many months altogether from their schools. According to the information given by the students it was found out that they were regularly absent due to repeated failure, some of them get very low percentage and even fails in most of the subjects. Poor economic condition at home is another reason where the main occupation of the parents of the students who are regularly absent are laborers, farmers, daily laborers, cultivators, wage laborers, woods cutters, jhum cultivators and rubber planters. As per the findings it reveals that majority of the parents are illiterate whereas some of them are semi-literate (able to write their name). Their monthly income ranges from 1000 - 4500 per month. Because of these reasons parents are not supportive in their children’s education, they have to go to market and sell vegetables and they are busy in household work. It was also found out that during jhum cultivation the students have to help their parents and there were mass students’ absenteeism as their families have to shift from one place to another place. Some parents view education as unnecessary since they prefer their children to look after their siblings and to help them in the fields rather than sending them to the school. They do not attend the parent teacher meeting (PTM).Hence, unsupportive family environment and lack of parental guidance. Another major factor faced by the students which may lead to absenteeism in these tribal blocks is the medium of instruction and communication problem. Many students speak and communicate in their tribal languages like Kokborok, Reang, Tripuri, Rupini,and Chakma whereas their teachers teach them in Bengali. Another major reason contributing to student absenteeism is early marriages. As early as class V, VI, VII and class VIII. Their age ranges from 12-15 years old. This is a very common factor in these tribal blocks. Other causes responsible for student absenteeism include distance between the school and the home which is very far. Since, there is lack of transportation facilities and in some places there is no bridge to cross the river they have to walk on foot and being a hilly area it is too difficult for them especially during bad weather. Some of the students have to travel a long distance per day to reach their school. The study indicates that there were few cases such as a school admitted a mentally challenged student without any minimum required facilities thus, due to this reason the student was regularly absent from the school. Further, in another school there was a student who is regularly absent from the school because he is addicted to alcohol, he’s only 15 years old and studying in class VIII. His parents want to send him to the school but he is not willing to go and he prefers to work in a nearby factory. Through Focus Group Discussion, it was found out that lack of motivation and lack of healthy school environment is another factor since there is no proper library and laboratory, lack of teachers, no electricity in the school, no sports facilities and equipment’s, inadequate facilities for recreational activities, no proper Mid-day Meal (MDM), poor infrastructural facilities which include no roof top in the school and there is leakage especially in rainy season, no toilet and drinking water facilities, death of parents, parents ill health, students acute/ severe sickness and poor health condition. Some of the students were found malnourish which may lead to lack of interest in studies and lack of concentration. The data also reveals that some of the students do not know how to read and write properly, they feel shy before their classmates and this make them not to attend their school regularly. Whereas some students attend the school just to appear only for their exams. Poor relationships with teachers/ head of school, teacher’s irregularity and frequent absent on the part of the teachers may cause students not interested to go to their school. Due to the above mentioned factors students were found regularly absent from the school. Educational Implications of the Study: Based on the findings the investigator suggested some remedial measures to enhance and improve the quality of elementary education with special reference to students’ absenteeism in the state of Tripura. The Government may organize awareness programme for the heads of school, teachers and parents; making them aware of the factors contributing to students absenteeism and the importance of education respectively. The school may call for a general meeting with parents, community members and other stakeholders from time to time discussing about the different issues, concerns in elementary education and in particular on students absenteeism. Teachers may pay a visit to student’s home, meet their parents and talk with them on the importance of education. The school may create guidance and counselling cell, to properly guide and counsel the students. The school infrastructure may be improved with more facilities like proper library and laboratory, drinking water, separate toilet for girls and boys, electricity, sports facilities, proper Mid- Day Meal (MDM) and other facilities may be provided. The problem of teacher’s irregularity and frequent absent of teachers may be address seriously. Teachers should try their level best to ignite the students’ interest in the classroom. Child- centered and activity- based approach may be adopted while teaching. The Government along with all the stakeholders should work together cooperatively to enhance the quality of elementary education and to make it universal. Student- teacher, parent/ guardian- teacher relationship should be closed. Residential schools may be set up. PTM may be organized at regular intervals. Parents, teachers should motivate and encourage their children, students respectively so that their academic performance will improve. Parents should not engage their children in jhum cultivation or in any household work; instead they may support them in their education. The school itself should provide a conducive environment for the students all round development and it needs ample of teachers; because due to scarcity of teachers the classes were hampered.

This is a two year research-cum-documentation initiated in January, 2017 funded by PAC, NCERT. Data were collected from the Sign language native signers from the different states of NE region. The method of data collection was carried out through a series of video recordings of a selected vocabulary. The objectives of the study are to strengthen educational materials and resources in the education of hearing impaired/Deaf children and to provide relevant linguistic information to teachers particularly language teachers. The documented Sign languages operating in the region has been compiled in a web-based application known as ‘NESL Sign Bank’. This NESL: SignBank provides online access to sign languages in the context of school education. It is an online educational resource that contains information regarding the types of sign languages used by the deaf community. This Web App has been developed using free online software programs (open source) which aim at supporting the education of d/Deaf people across the region. The App was awarded with the Jury Appreciation Award (New Media/ICT category) at the 22nd All Indian Children’s Educational Audio-Video Festival & ICT Mela, 2018. . This documentation although completed and compiled, it still need further investigations into the language use amongst the deaf community. Due to limited time, the App incorporates only a limited data of 3000 words approximately. It has potential for increasing the database and integration of supporting materials in sign language for school education.

This study is targeted at how increasing classroom interaction can produce a significant improvement in the use of various techniques and methods in English language classroom in general and semi-urban and rural English medium schools with Khasi speaking students in particular. Whatever the pedagogical approach or method a teacher might use, it is essentially the classroom interaction that mediates between the teaching and learning process. The main aims and objectives of the study are to discern the techniques teachers use to involve students in conversation in the classroom and to find out how often teachers conduct 'Task-based' activities in the language classroom. Structured interview was adopted for the study for both teachers and students. Hence, a questionnaire was used as a tool (according to the Likert scale) to collect information from both the teachers and the students. Classroom observations through video recordings and group discussions were also conducted in this research. The major findings from this research are summarized as follow— English language classrooms in both semi-urban and rural mono-cultural schools are predominated by teacher-centered methods. Despite the teachers being trained in other learner-centered methods, teaching becomes only a series of knowledge transactions in preparation for the final written examination for example dictation, rote learning, etc. Teachers claim to use language activities in the classroom but data reveals that there are hardly any interactional activities happening in the classroom. Based on classroom observations, teachers tend to select only a few students (usually the intelligent ones) to ask questions. Students rarely ask questions or initiate discussions. From group discussions conducted with teachers in rural areas, opportunities to speak in English at home and their immediate surroundings are limited. A monolingual and monoculture community cannot provide a platform to use English. Hence, it is a drawback. Further, there are schools located in interior areas such as the school in Diengsong and Wahtyngai (East and West Khasi hills respectively) which has difficult terrain and to access the schools. In Diengsong, teachers have to walk down the small steps towards the deep valleys of Cherrapunjee to reach the schools. Hence, teachers informed that frequent support to such schools can be rarely seen. The SSA school in Wahtyngai, do not have proper classrooms, when it rains children have to move to the corner of the classroom to sit as there is no proper roofing. Most BRCs/CRCs also pointed out that travelling allowance to visit such schools is limited to which at times, are incurred from their own salary. One important finding of this study which needs to be highlighted is the evidence of urban and rural disparity in terms of reading materials, the classroom strategies, the teacher’s proficiency, etc. The materials and textbooks developed by the state which covers themes closely related to what students are learning are unreadable to students in the rural areas. Concepts of a morning walk, historical events and places in the urban areas are alien to most of the students in the rural areas.

The present ERIC research project entitled ‘Teacher Education Curriculum of North Eastern Region in the Light of NCFTE, 2009: An Analysis’ was carried out with the to analyse the existing secondary teacher education curriculum of all the North Eastern States with reference to the guidelines of NCFTE, 2009, to find out the gap that exists in secondary education curriculum of North Eastern States, to study the curricular areas (Curricular Area A) of teacher education curriculum of North Eastern Region in the light of NCFTE, 2009, to study the pedagogical component (Curricular Area B) of teacher education curriculum of North Eastern Region in the light of NCFTE, 2009, to study the school internship (Curricular Area C) of teacher education curriculum of North Eastern Region in the light of NCFTE, 2009, to study the transactional modalities of teacher education curriculum of North Eastern Region in the light of NCFTE, 2009, to study the evaluation process of teacher education curriculum of North Eastern Region in the light of NCFTE, 2009 and to find out the perception and suggestions of different stakeholders (principal, teacher educators and pre-service teacher trainees) regarding the secondary teacher education curriculum of North Eastern States. The methods which was followed in the present study are - first all the B. Ed syllabuses of the entire secondary teacher education curriculum from all the central universities located in all the eight north eastern states were collected. The central universities situated in the north east region are the Assam University, Assam; Manipur university, Manipur; Mizoram university, Mizoram; Nagaland university, Nagaland; North Eastern Hill university (NEHU), Shillong (Meghalaya); Rajiv Gandhi university, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim university, Sikkim and Tripura university, Tripura. Then to analyze the curriculum, content analysis was done on different dimensions like curricular area, pedagogy area and school internship. It was also done to find out the gaps that exist in the present teacher education curriculum. In order to find out the transactional modalities and the evaluation process of teacher education curriculum of North Eastern Region in the light of NCFTE- 2009, classroom observation was carried out. Finally to find out the perception as well as suggestions of stake holders (principal, teacher educators and pre-service teacher trainees) the data was gathered through interview, questionnaire and focus group discussion. Regarding the sample of the study random sampling was followed and representative sampling was used as it represented all the eight North Eastern States. Hence, the sample of the present research study includes eight universities (all central universities); one each from all the eight North Eastern States. This covered eight teacher education colleges/ institutions including IASEs (all government colleges and institutions). Besides, principals of B. Ed. Colleges/ institutions, twenty teacher educators and twenty pre-service teacher trainees (pass out and current trainees) from each state formed part of the sample. Thus, a total number of 8 principals, 160 teacher educators and 160 pre-service teacher trainees (including pass out) respectively constituted the sample of the study. The tool which was used in this study includes-content analysis was done on different dimensions like curricular areas, pedagogy area, school internship, working with the community, multi-cultural placement, transactional modalities and evaluation process. Observation Scheduled was prepared by the investigator for observation of the transactional modalities. Interview scheduled (un-structured and semi-structured) was developed by the investigator. The investigator also developed the questionnaire to find out the perception and suggestions of stakeholders towards secondary teacher education curriculum of all North Eastern states and Focus group discussion was done with the teacher educators as well as pre-service teacher trainees. After analysis of all the B. Ed. Curriculum of the North East, certain factors have been identified as important aspects to be considered while framing/ developing a syllabus. These are contact hours, internal assessment, course objectives, transaction mode, practical area, course content, practicum, assignment, sessional work, mode of assessment, grading and references which is mandatory to be included in the syllabus; especially with the course as has been suggested by NCFTE, 2009. The result of the present study indicates that all the universities of North Eastern states offer one year B. Ed and mostly under semester pattern. There is B. Ed. syllabuses, which do not have the courses/ course content as per NCFTE, 2009 guidelines. This calls for a revision of the B. Ed syllabuses as per the recommendations made by NCFTE, 2009.In most of the B. Ed curriculum working with the community and multi- cultural placement is not there. Looking at the internship in teaching and its duration; we can see that there is no uniformity in all the B. Ed colleges/ institution.

A research on perceptions of teachers and students in Meghalaya about instructional approaches and contents in history was conducted under the Institutional research project. The objectives of the research was to understand students preferred subject in Social Science (Upper Primary and Secondary level) and reasons thereof, to elicit students views on the history textbooks and existing instructional methods in the history classroom, to elicit teachers views on the history textbooks, to understand the problems (if any) faced by teachers in transacting the history lessons, to record the resource materials/tools used by the history teachers, to understand students views on how they would like to learn history, to understand students perception of historical evidence, causation and historical explanation and to suggest ways of improving existing pedagogy in history lesson. Survey was conducted amongst to address these queries a survey research was conducted amongst 207 students (secondary level) from the state of Meghalaya, drawn from 2 Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools, one army school and one private school. To elicit response questionnaires were distributed to the students and data were analysed using simple percentage. General discussions were also held with both students and teachers. The findings drawn reflected a dismal state in students perceptions although the reasons were elaborately cited by students which included amongst other reasons the need for a more interactive and visual approach to understanding the past.

A Study was conducted on the implementation of inclusive education at the elementary level in the selected States of the North Eastern region under ERIC. The main objectives of the study were to identify and study the different components available in the schools for providing quality education for CWSN such as teachers training, curricular/instructional adaptations, teaching learning process, teaching learning materials, evaluation system and whether inclusive education really benefits the children with disability or not. The methodology followed a qualitative approach and the sample for the study included three states that is Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura (30 Schools). The tools included questionnaire, observation schedule, interview schedule and checklist. According to the study it was found that schools have enrolled children with special needs such as visually impaired, low vision, hearing impaired, locomotors disability, mild mentally challenged, cerebral palsy, autism etc. However, the study also suggested there were no concrete steps taken for making schools inclusive in nature even though majority of the schools has ramps and ramps with handrails but there were no proper or adequate infrastructures or facilities and even teachers were not trained in the area of inclusive education. Looking at the various facilities the study reveals that nearly all schools have inadequate resources no separate toilet for the children using wheel chair and only very few schools have special seating arrangement for the children with disability. Majority of the schools were still using the traditional bench-desk and chair-table as seating arrangement for the students which proves very inconvenience for children with disability. Playgrounds are not friendly especially when it comes to children with disability. When it comes to aids and appliances majority of the schools do not have proper aids and appliances. This indicates the level of unpreparedness of not only the schools but the state authorities as well. Another interesting finding of the study was that majority of the teachers do not have the required professional degree for teaching at the elementary level, hence they may lack the essential skills in their teaching learning. Again the study also shows that inclusion of CWSNs in the regular schools will be successful if teachers are skilled and knowledgeable in handling CWSNs. The finding of the present study established that majority of the teachers taken for this study perceived that their lack of knowledge, skills and even lacked of training(s) in this area were inadequate to effectively teach CWSNs in regular schools and this might hinders their performance level, and some of them expressed that special schools are still required to cater to the needs of these children. The majority of the teachers who expressed that CWSNs can be brought into the mainstream schools were of the view that if training in inclusive education is provided to them and overcrowded classroom is taken care, these children will benefit more. Further the study indicated that teachers faced many challenges in their everyday teaching learning due to lack of required skills in teaching CWSNs for example teaching in a class where a hearing impaired child is present and for this knowing sign language is essential etc., but teachers do not have this skill so here is the challenge that a teacher faced. Another finding of the present study is the lacked of cooperation and interest from the parents of the CWSNs which act as a hurdle in their teaching learning. In an inclusive school the most important part in providing education where CWSNs will benefit is curriculum adaptation. Children with Special needs (CWSN) face various challenges, especially during the teaching–learning process due to lack of curriculum adaptation and modification. This study also showed that not only the children but also the teachers teaching in these schools faced many challenges concerning adapting or modifying the curriculum which may be due to lack of training(s), supplementary reading materials and also lack of modified and child friendly teaching learning materials. Further, looking at the instructional strategies or classroom pedagogy the present study reveals that there were teachers who modified and adapted their instructional strategies as per individual needs. However majority of them has not done any modification and still follow the traditional approach to teaching. This shows that professional qualification, knowledge and training is essential for all teachers in the field of inclusive education so as to enable and empower them meet the needs of CWSNs. With regards to teaching learning materials the study further established that very few of the teachers used modified and adapted TLM such as 2/3 dimensional figures and shapes, blocks, flash card, soft and hard fabrics, models, real objects or large print materials and any TLM which are tactile in nature which is as per the need of the child. And majority of the teachers do not used any modified and adapted TLM which may prove difficult for children to understand concept(s) and further hamper the progress and achievement of CWSNs. Again the present study reveals that very few teachers adapt and modified there method of assessment as per individual needs such as oral test, writing in braille where the resource teacher transcript the braille script into print, breaking questions into parts, simplifying questions, assessing through activities and observation and also providing additional time. However majority of the teachers still used the paper pencil test and examination which is also common to all students. This study also took into account the views and perception of children with special needs and without special needs regarding their learning experiences in the schools. The finding reveals that majority of the CWSNs expressed happiness in coming to school and making friends, participating in activities and interacting with other children which other children without disabilities also shared similar views. When it comes to their learning the findings reveals that CWSNs do faced many challenges in their learning in the classroom. They expressed difficulties in understanding lesson taught and feel anxious and hesitant to ask the teacher. They were unable to cope with the class work and have difficulties in copying down points written on the board. It was also important to examine parents of CWSNs perception towards inclusive schools because parents play a major role in contributing towards effective implementation of inclusive education. From the present study many interesting findings has been revealed. Even though majority of the parents expressed that their children enjoy studying in the regular schools with other children however they did share their concerns regarding school building and other facilities which according to them are not disability friendly. The present study also discloses that even though teachers provide regular feedback about performance and behaviour of their children but they don’t provide training(s) on how to handle and how to help their children at home. Another finding of the present study reveal that there are parents who agreed with the fact that their children are facing difficulties in learning even though teachers are supportive, but could not provide individual help because of the number of students in the class. But one interesting finding of the present study was that some of the parents of CWSNs did not find it important to attend Parent Teacher Meeting which provides a platform for discussion of problems and alternative measures for improvement of their children education.Other challenges that were revealed in this present study were: shortage of teaching materials, lack of adequate aids and appliances, shortage of teachers, used of multi-grade teaching, too much time spend on non-teaching duties, lack of cooperation and collaboration between teachers and parents. Parental resistance also came out to be strong factor among the barriers to inclusive education. The study felt desirable that the parental involvement should be increased.