Minister for Education Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today said that the government has laid special focus on modernization of education in government run schools by introducing series of reforms.
“Introduction of IT facilities, e-learning and establishment of model schools have been prioritized. The aim is to improve the quality of education and make best use of abilities of highly qualified teachers and huge infrastructure” the Minister asserted. He also said that government has planned to open schools for special children in each district. “For this deputy commissioners will be asked to identify land and submit report to the government” he added.
He was speaking at twin meetings convened to take district wise review the functioning and performance of Education Department in Jammu division.
The first meeting was attended by Speaker J&K Legislative Assembly, Kavinder Gupta, Minister for PHE and Irrigation, Sham Choudhary, Minister of State for Education, Priya Sethi, and MLAs and MLCs of Jammu and adjoining district.
The second meeting convened to review the functioning of the department in Rajouri and Poonch was also attended by Minister for Information, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Minister for Sheep, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Abdul Ghani Kohli and Legislators of the twin border districts.
Reiterating that the government is committed to provide modern facilities in the schools especially in far flung areas, he said “We want to ensure that the schools function smoothly and the education of children does not suffer for any reason.”
Bukhari said that providing better environment and making class work more interesting are the areas which are being addressed. “The development of model schools, introduction of e-learning, IT facilities in all schools and regular refresher courses for teachers, creation of Knowledge bank and other modes of teachings in the schools can definitely help to achieve the envisaged goal” he said.
Saying that the rationalization of staff in schools is a big challenge, the Minister said the department has decided to revise its transfer policy to overcome dearth of subject wise teachers. He said the department has also decided to impart first aid training to one teacher in each school.
Asserting that much progress has been achieved in this direction, he maintained that the reforms are far reaching and highly beneficial for the students. He asked the department to go ahead with same spirit to realize the full objectives.
The Education Minister directed the Department to involve the local Legislators in the process of modernization and up-gradation of schools as they being well versed with the local needs can guide the department well about the local challenges.
While speaking on the occasion, Speaker appreciated the initiatives taken by the Education Department to bring revolutionary changes in this most important sector. He stressed for further improvement of quality of education in all the government run schools of the state to enable the students to compete with their counterparts in private schools.
Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali stressed on the need for expanding the reach of quality education and said that government was tirelessly working towards this goal. He said there is no alternate to education as the development of an area solely depends on its literacy rate. He congratulated the Education Minister for rolling out a workable plan to improve the quality of education, particularly in remote areas by opening model schools.
Abdul Ghani Kohli called for regular inspections to ensure that schools in the remote areas function properly. He also stressed for keeping a close check to ensure the punctuality of staff.
Addressing the meeting, Priya Sethi said that the aspirations of both teachers and students are being met to evolve a dependable and progressive education set up in the state. She specially stressed on rationalization of staff and fast tracking the recruitment process to meet the dearth in far flung areas.
Meanwhile, the legislators stressed on the need for making adequate provisions for potable water and sanitation in all schools. They also called for addressing the issues and demands of dearth of teaching staff, upgradation of schools to next level, repair and renovation of old school buildings where ever required, establishment of smart classrooms in all institutions and meeting the constituency specific requirements.
Bukhari assured all the legislators that their suggestions would be incorporated and acted upon to improve the system of education in the state.
The meeting was attended by senior government functionaries including Commissioner Secretary Education Department, Director School Education, Additional District Development Commissioner Jammu, Director RMSA, Director SSA and other senior officers of the School Education Department.