The State government has decided to regulate fee structure of private schools by making appropriate legislation.
The announcement was made by the ruling PDP-BJP government through an address by the governor N N Vohra to the joint session of state legislature in Jammu.
“The fee structure of nearly 7000 private educational institutions, across the State, is proposed to be regulated by making an appropriate legislative intervention.”
The government also announced that the School Education Department will soon notify guidelines for reducing the weight of school bags.
“The sight of small children carrying large and heavy bags on their backs to school is cause for concern,” it said.
The government said that in order to provide access to education for youth, especially girls, the School Education Department was planning to upgrade 200 Middle Schools (100 in each Division) to the level of High Schools and 200 High Schools (100 in each Division) to the level of Higher Secondary Schools, as per the existing norms. The department has referred 2154 posts of Teachers to Services Selection Board (SSB) for time bound recruitment, the government said.
To encourage female students to pursue higher studies, the government said it will construct Girl’s Hostels in all the far flung colleges.
In the first phase, it said, the construction of Girl’s Hostels in seven Government Degree Colleges at Bemina, Paloura, Kargil, Thathri, Kupwara, Pulwama and Rajouri has been approved under PMDP. Under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), the establishment of two Cluster Universities has been approved and construction of the campuses was nearing completion.
To expand the access of Higher Education in rural areas, it said, 17 new Degree Colleges have been sanctioned. Two Schools of Architecture have been established: one each at Maulana Azad Memorial College, Jammu, and Degree College Bemina, Srinagar. In addition, two B.Sc. Nursing Colleges have been established in the State.
The government said 159 hectares of forest land has been acquired for the construction of additional blocks at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jammu.
Similarly, for IIM Jammu, 80 hectares of Forest land has been allotted for construction of additional infrastructure at the campus. The academic session for the second batch of 113 students has started from the Old University Campus.