Excelsior Correspondent
— Excelsior/Rakesh
JAMMU, Mar 28: Assuring to end corruption in the education sector and focusing on child rather than teacher or mid-day meals, the Minister for Education Naeem Akhtar today announced a series of measures for streamlining the virtually derailed department and achieve hundred percent literacy in Jammu and Kashmir.
The measures include reposition of teachers, rationalizing of transfer policy, formulation of a charter of duty and GPS monitoring of the School Education Officers.
“Keeping in view the available data, which presents a chaotic situation in the School Education Department where hundreds of schools are having less number of students than the teachers posted there, we have started re-positioning of the teaching staff as per requirement,” the Minister said while addressing a crowded press conference, here today, a day after the Demands of Grant of the Education Department were passed in the State Assembly without discussion on the same.
He also announced that a planned transfer policy is being framed and introduced soon. “The teachers transferred to far-flung areas will not have to wait for years as they will be shifted to such areas only for one academic session while the woman teachers getting married will automatically be transferred to that particular Zone,” he said and advocated for posting of husband and wife in the same district.
The Minister further disclosed that a charter of duty is being formulated in the Education Department for avoiding confusion as well as fixing role and responsibilities of each officer. “An officer of Deputy CEO level will be made incharge of Academics with essential touring of at least 15 days per month,” he said and added that movement of the officer will be monitored with the help of GPS.
Alleging that the previous Government had handed over a completely shattered and disturbed system to the new dispensation, Naeem Akhtar presented data of poor pass percentage in the Government schools and the huge infrastructure as well as human resources engaged by the Education Department producing no results.
“Despite 24265 Government schools, 16.68 lakh enrollment there, 143000 teaching staff and an annual budget of Rs 5432 crore for School Education, the J&K state is 6th from bottom in the country in respect of literacy,” he said.
Elaborating more, he said that pass percentage in the Government schools during the past few years was around 50 whereas the performance of private schools is about 25 percent higher than that. “Hundreds of schools in Jammu as well as in Kashmir have student’s strength less than 20 or even zero and it seems that these schools were opened only for generating employment,” he said and announced that the academic performance of teachers will be linked to their promotion.
In Jammu province during the last five years, just four students have figured in the top 20 in the 10th class exams, he disclosed.
The minister also announced some other initiatives like revisiting curriculum for promoting creativity among students, toilet facility in all the schools, more academic training programmes, vocational courses, diversification of infrastructure, and also providing Laptop to the Headmasters of Middle Schools for IT awareness among the students.
“Under RUSA, cluster universities are being opened, one each in the Srinagar and Jammu for all the City Colleges while two Government Engineering Colleges are also being set up, one each in both the provinces,” he informed.
Replying to a query regarding B Ed and ETT Colleges, the minister said that the Government would encourage diversification of infrastructure. He also assured to activate Private Schools Fee Rationalization Committee. “The government will uplift the standard of Government schools so that in the coming days parents will prefer to get their children educated in Government institutions than private,” he predicted.
The Minister of State for Education Priya Sethi, Commissioner Secretary School Education, Shalin Kabra, Commissioner Secretary Higher Education Sarita Chouhan, Director School Education Jammu Simrandeep Singh and Director School Education Kashmir were also present in the press conference.
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