Dimapur: Nagaland chief secretary Sentiyanger Imchen on Friday said the unemployment rate for the 15-59 age group in the state stood at 7.3%, compared to 3.5% at the national level, citing the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), March 2026.
Imchen also said youth unemployment among those aged 15-29 stood at 17.5% in Nagaland, compared to 9.9% nationally.
Delivering the keynote address at a consultative seminar on “Emerging Trends: Introduction and Realising Potential”, organised by the Nagaland Higher & Technical Education Department, at the conference hall of the Information Technology & Communication Department in Kohima, he said the state had always placed a premium on education, with parents often securing loans to educate their children, primarily with the hope of securing government employment.
He, however, said government jobs had become saturated, with recruitment into state government services through the Nagaland Staff Selection Board and Nagaland Public Service Commission standing at 845 persons in 2024 and 589 in 2025.
He said these figures showed the limited government employment opportunities available relative to the potential job-seeking population.
Imchen further said that Unemployment, Skill and Migration in Nagaland 2025 revealed that 92% of Nagaland’s residents lacked formal vocational or technical education, while 78% of workers had no prior work experience.
He said these figures showed a critical gap between theoretical academic learning and practical job-market readiness.
On the way forward, Imchen stated that it was encouraging that Nagaland University had taken the initiative to incorporate AI components into postgraduate and PhD programmes across several departments, with implementation proposed from the 2026-2027 academic session.
He urged private universities, colleges and technical institutes in the state to follow suit and incorporate emerging disciplines into their courses.
He also urged Nagaland University, private universities and colleges to take further initiatives to establish specialised departments and introduce emerging, industry-relevant programmes.
Imchen said faculty shortages and infrastructure constraints should not become stumbling blocks, and suggested exploring faculty-sharing arrangements, institutional collaborations, industry partnerships and hybrid learning to facilitate implementation.
He expressed hope that the seminar would serve as a catalyst for a paradigm shift in Nagaland’s education system, translating awareness into concrete institutional action.
He urged representatives from universities, colleges and polytechnics to take responsibility for reviewing existing curricula, introducing future-oriented and industry-aligned programmes, and strengthening practical learning, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.