Historical development of school education in Peren district, Nagaland: A century of progress

This article examines the historical evolution of school education in Peren District, Nagaland, from a single missionary-led school in 1912 to a multifaceted system of an estimated 172 schools by 2024. Employing a historical-cum-descriptive methodology, the study draws on a stratified random sample of 56 schools surveyed in 2013, including perspectives from 56 head teachers, 100 teachers, 100 parents, 200 students, and 10 community leaders, alongside secondary sources such as government reports, UDISE+ 2023–24 data, and archival records. It traces the pivotal roles of British missionaries and Christianity in initiating formal education, the expansion to 211 schools by 2013 driven by post-independence policies, and a literacy rate of 79% by 2011. Persistent challenges, including untrained teachers, limited technology, are analyzed alongside transformative achievements like the adoption of Samagra Shiksha and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This synthesis provides a comprehensive view of Peren’s educational landscape over 112 years.