No more trekking long distances with heavy bags to get to school, as Jammu and Kashmir's education sector, the Ministry of Education will soon lay the foundation for 16 new degree colleges and 400 schools in the State. According to Education Minister Altaf Bukhari, the Government wants to incerase accsesibility in areas where students have to walk dozens of kilometres to attend school.
"Government is in the process of announcing new colleges for the deserving areas, There are many important tehsils which are still lacking the facility of higher education," Bukhari said. In addition, he said 200 high schools would be upgraded to the higher secondary level, while an equal number of middle schools would be upgraded to the high school level. According to the minister, many areas, which also includes the world-renowned tourist destination Pahalgam in Kashmir and the border tehsil of RS Pura in Jammu, deserve degree colleges and said that the government has decided to meet such demands.
Though regretting the setback faced by the education sector in past decades due to constant turmoil in the valley, the minister was all praise for the teaching fraternity, who he said remained committed to the cause of education, even in times of turbulence.
"Teachers, both in the government and private sector, deserve all praise for their commitment towards their noble profession and the state is indebted to them," he said. Also, he added, that the young generation of technocrats and officers serving in the state at present are the very lot taught by the teachers, who worked during the troubled times in the valley.
The minister also advised the private school association to follow the norms, be it about the appointment of teachers, payment of salary and give other incentives to achieve a good quality of education. Kids in hill regions are often curbed, either by distance or lack of safety, from going to school. A majority of such regions have little to no transport, covered in sprawling fields and rolling mountains. The new move is seen as a boon to kids in thee areas, a hope for an education boost.
