Nagaland has limited infrastructure and facilities for technical education. It is almost fully dependent upon Central Government allocation/quota for sending its students for technical education particularly for engineering, computer and IT studies. These students are compelled to be sent outside the state, further increasing their cost of education. Lack of technical education facilities is also one of the major reasons contributing to the low profile of socio-economic development of the State.
Technical Education in the State started in the year 1972 with the establishment of the first Polytechnic, Nagaland Polytechnic at Atoizu, (Zunhebhoto Dist) which was later renamed as Khelhoshe Polytechnic.
With a view to uplift the socio-economic condition of the women in the state, the second Polytechnic, Women Polytechnic, now renamed as Government Polytechnic at Kohima was established during 1994. These two institutes have immensely contributed to the technical manpower requirement of the State. However, with the change of time and advent of new technologies, the programs offered by the two Polytechnics was felt to be inadequate to meet the challenges of the present day market demand, especially in the field of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology. Therefore, with a view to cater to the present need another Polytechnic, Institute of Communication & Information Technology was established at Mokokchung during 2003 under the Govt. of India, Third Technician Education project assisted by the World Bank. The State now has three technical institutes offering various Diploma programs in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical & Electronics, Automobile, Computers, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computer Applications, Modern office Practice and Fashion Design.
With a view to introducing flexibility and dynamism, the State Government decided that Technical Education Sector of the erstwhile Directorate of Higher & Technical Education to be transferred and merged with the new Department of Information Technology to rejuvenate the Technical Education System in the State. Accordingly, the Department of Information Technology & Technical Education became functional with effect from 1st October 2004.
Mission
Technical Education contributes substantially to the Socio-Economic development of the state and the country as a whole. The development and sustenance of the industrial sector are entirely dependent upon the availability of trained manpower to perform multidimensional activities to keep the wheels of industry running. The Technical Education department is therefore tasked with a mission towards making available trained technically qualified manpower for the service industry and generate self-employment for the youths of the State.