Srinagar, November 13 (KNO) : Calling upon the Governor administration to fully revive the winter tuition introduced in the year 2015, senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar said the initiative taken three years back needs the Governor’s overview at present. In a statement issued to KNO, Akhtar expressed concern over the delay being done in providing the incentives assured to the teachers over conducting the winter classes and said that it was worrisome to find that teachers who earnestly taught in these centres have not been granted the incentives yet including the leave benefits. He urged the Governor to issue orders in this regard and the period the teachers spent in the winter camps be recorded in their service books. Furthermore, the PDP leader said that the teachers made commendable efforts in making winter classes in Kashmir successful and result oriented. “Even the lecturers who used to take the tuition classes in market supported the initiative and voluntarily joined the study centres. They were assured additional incentives in particular the leave salary in lieu of their voluntary services during winter vacations. However, same is yet to be recorded in their service books. It is high time that the Governor duly honours the services rendered by these teachers and issue orders so that they could get the service benefits from the same,” said Akhtar. Akhtar said the winter tuition introduced by the PDP government was revolutionary measure in the field of education and was started through a widespread coaching network in schools, in particular to cater to need for tuition classes and personality development of the students in the remote and inaccessible places of the state and to do away with idling time of students, teachers and education apparatus as a whole. He added that around 1000 boys and girls had joined “Super 50” coaching and more than 1 lac students availed winter tuition classes and thousands of kids turned up for winter camps.
“The initiatives proved to be a turning point in the state’s academic history and the concept of winter vacations became outdated practice. It provided a great opportunity and an alternative to costly coaching classes especially for the students from poor families who could not afford huge fee at private tuition centres,” Akhtar said, adding that it was for the first time that hundreds of schools in the state were not only fully functional during winters, but were abuzz with academic and co-curricular activities. The PDP leader remarked that the students durn these winter classes not only paid for their heating arrangements, but the schools also generated surplus revenue out of small charges paid by the students to take care of classroom renovations and other expenses at several places. Highlighting the outcome of the winter classes, the PDP leader said the initiative yielded the desired results and in the year 2015-16, some 23 students got selected in different competitive examinations like NEET ,IIT-JEE and others and in the year 2016-17 some 60 students registered their success in NEET ,IIT/JEE examinations. In 2017-18, some 239 students qualified for NEET/IIT/JEE Entrance Examinations. “This programme has benefited all the meritorious students’ especially disadvantageous lot and it needs Governor ’s overview especially in view of the fact that academic session got disrupted this year due to frequent hartals,” said Akhtar.(KNO)