Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 16: Minister for School Education, Hajj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today said that the Government is planning to bring in a new education policy which will regulate school curriculum, review teaching methods and regulate other related aspects.
The Minister expressed these views at a high level meeting, which was attended by Minister for Tourism Tassaduq Mufti, Secretary School Education Farooq Shah, Director of School Education, Joint Director State Institute of Education Kashmir, Principal DIETs and other concerned officers.
The Minister said that the policy will entail a proper monitoring system through which the department would not only assess the trainers, but could also review the effectiveness of these trainings among the students.
Zulfkar Ali said if the infrastructural work of the State gets delayed nothing gets delayed, but if a student is deprived of quality education, a cardinal sin is being committed. The Minister added that the need of the hour is to think beyond the set horizons, and aim for such a setting where education is not limited to a certain recognized board of the country.
The Minister said a good teacher can make a huge difference in shaping the future of his student. He said therefore, it is important that a meticulous evaluation is done during selection of teachers and master teachers.
The Minister also asked the officials to ensure that everyone is made accountable for their actions. He urged the officers to make their subordinates accountable for their actions so that desired results could be achieved.
He also directed for constituting of expert committee who will study world’s best curriculum and teaching methodology from around the country.
The meeting was informed that the present J&K Board of School Education follows the pattern of NCERT in terms of its curriculum.
Expressing his views, Tassaduq Mufti said books should be cumulative in nature. He said instead of having random chapters about English which include something about everything, there should be a gradual shift towards certain topic.
The Minister said it is better to face the weakness and focus on strengths so that better results could be achieved. He suggested that there is no need to follow NCERT like a holy book, instead concerned officials should explore other relevant options too.
Meanwhile, Zulfkar impressed upon the officers of Jammu and Kashmir Board School Education (JKBOSE) to expedite the process of switching completely to the digital work culture.
Reviewing the functioning of the Board, the Minister said the entire Board functioning should be digitalized. Instead of following orthodox methods, it is important to switch over to paperless working culture, where official documentation, including student registration, examination forms, issuing of roll number slips, and passing certificates, would be done through digital mode, he said.
The Minister said the Board needs to develop a mechanism where they can provide username and a password to all the heads of the departments of schools, who can themselves, check the form received online and if required can do the needful editing.
Minister of State for School Education Shakti Raj Parihar, Secretary School Education Farooq Shah, Chairperson J&K State Board of School Education Professor Veena Pandita, Director Academics Farooq Peer, Joint Secretaries BOSE, Deputy Secretaries BOSE, were present in the meeting.
To put a complete stamp on unfair means, Zulfkar Ali directed the concerned that all secondary and higher secondary exams shall be conducted under camera surveillance, adding later papers evaluation should also be done under camera surveillance.
During the meeting, the Minister was informed that the Board is preparing new books with the best content after organizing a rigorous exercise of holding more than 15 workshops, seeking the opinion of subject experts, researchers and people from civil society.
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