Kohima: The North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research (NEISSR) and Peace Channel pushed for new peace education investments on September 21. They timed the appeal to coincide with the 2026 International Day of Peace. The United Nations set this year’s theme as Invest in Peace for Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day. It demands a daily commitment to harmony.
Fr. Dr. CP Anto, principal of NEISSR and director of Peace Channel, said classrooms must teach more than just facts. Students need tools to manage disagreements, respect human dignity, and support their communities. He noted that ongoing violence in Manipur and global conflicts prove the urgent need for trained mediators. These experts can handle reconciliation and conflict transformation at every level. "Peace cannot be left only to governments and political institutions. Communities also need professionally trained peacebuilders who can work at the grassroots and help transform conflict into opportunities for dialogue and cooperation," Fr. Anto said.
The school is already teaching peace and conflict transformation through BSW and MSW programs under Nagaland University. Now, the organizations plan to lobby the Nagaland government to put peace curricula into local schools. Early education builds empathy. It helps kids resolve arguments without violence. The groups believe this could turn Nagaland into a national model for social responsibility.
They are pushing a specific 3+3+3 Peace Intervention Model. Each student must help three other students, three families, and three communities foster peace. Results get tracked in an annual Peace Impact Report. Staff want students to see this training as a career path in NGOs, government roles, or civil service exams like the UPSC and NPSC. Fr. Anto urged citizens to stop just talking about peace and start building it.
Updated at 22nd September 2026 at 1:50pm
Other institutions joined the push to move beyond surface-level harmony. At St. Joseph University in Dimapur, faculty highlighted Johan Galtung’s concepts of negative and positive peace, warning that much of the Northeast remains trapped in a state of negative peace where violence is suppressed but justice is absent. The university held a painting competition to drive the theme home for students.
The State College of Teacher Education in Kohima also weighed in, bringing in Rev. T. Karang Maram, a former director of the Manipur Baptist Convention. Maram pushed the idea that peace is an active process built on equity and social harmony. He challenged students and educators to reject passive approaches and instead commit to transformative education as a tool for actual justice.
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