Education has become the part and parcel of the lives of people in modern societies and is considered the backbone of any modern and enlightened society. Without education, any development of a society is not possible. The government schools in Jammu and Kashmir have always remained fundamental means of education of children irrespective of the caste, creed, colour, sex, religion etc. The good education policies and schemes of the government and their implementation by the hardworking and dedicated teachers in government schools have not only universalised education across the state but have also achieved important goals of the schemes and policies for the prosperous and better society. With the slogan of universalization of education, the teachers in government schools have played an important role in increasing the literacy rate and producing real assets in different fields in every nook and corner of Jammu and Kashmir. The increasing literacy rate, universalisation of education and real assets in different fields across the state was possible only because of the good education policies, schemes, infrastructure, financial support and highly qualified and dedicated teachers and other officials working tirelessly in the department. To boost the education sector in contemporary times and take it to new heights in view of growing competition with private schools, the school education department has brought a number of positive, constructive and innovative changes in its policies, schemes and orders for the progress and development of the education as per National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The department has recently issued an unavoidable order regarding the mega enrolment drive for all schools. The officials from lower rung to the higher rung of the department have been strictly directed to start and participate in the mega enrolment drive in a mission and vision mode. The order of the school education department has been highly hailed by all the stakeholders and accordingly a series of mega enrolment drives have been started by the teachers across Jammu and Kashmir. The main aim of the mega enrolment drive is to increase the enrolment of students and to reduce dropout rates among the students across the state. It also aims that no child is left behind due to lack of resources or access to education and to provide better education opportunities to students across the valley. It is pertinent to mention that the worthy Director School Education Department Mr. Tasaduq Hussain Mir himself flagged off the mega enrolment drive campaign and directed all the education officers including Joint Directors, Chief Education Officers, Principal DIETs, HODs of DIETs, Deputy Chief Education Officers, District Education Planning Officers, DIET Faculty, Zonal Education Planning Officers to visit at least one or more habitations as a part of door to door campaign in order to inspire and boost field functionaries. The teachers of the education department are at the forefront of the mega enrolment drive and they are continuously conducting door-to-door campaigns, chanting slogans and motivating people to enrol their wards in government schools for better and quality free education. The teachers are also roping all the PRIs, village Education Committees, School Management Committees, senior citizens, civil society, NGOs, etc. for achieving enrolment targets set by the school education department. It is worth mentioning here that the ongoing mega enrolment drive is yielding very good results as thousands of parents have admitted their wards in government schools for the last one month. Thousands of students from private schools have also sought their admissions in government schools due to the presence of student friendly well-equipped infrastructure, highly qualified teachers, and outstanding performance of students in Board results and learning outcomes of students. The ongoing shifting of students from low and high budget private schools to government schools is really a great achievement of the school education department and it is giving a clear and green signal to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir about the quality and free education in government schools. It has changed the negative perception among the public about the government schools.
The mega enrolment drive of the education department is not only confined for enrolling new wards but it also emphasizes teachers to identify and enrol out of schoolchildren in government schools.
For the past many years, the Jammu and Kashmir government has extended various kinds of facilities in majority schools, particularly high and higher secondary schools and even some middle schools, the required facilities have been developed under various schemes. The ICT labs, Smart classrooms, CAL Labs, Atal Tinkering labs, STEM labs, well equipped libraries and laboratories, art and craft rooms, counselling cells, happiness zones, play grounds, recreational facilities, proper accommodation, playgrounds, diverse vocational courses, scholarships, highly qualified and experienced teachers and other facilities available in government schools are luring parents to admit their wards in government schools. The government of Jammu and Kashmir has been focussing on improving infrastructures of all other schools that are yet to be fully developed. The full infrastructure development in all government schools in the very near future under various schemes will lure more parents to admit their wards in the government schools. One of the genuine challenges that government teachers are facing during enrollment drives from the community members that despite quality free education in government schools, why most government teachers are admitting their own wards in private schools. The community members often think that government teachers have no faith in their own teaching so they admit their own wards in private schools. However, this is not the reality and the fact is that in a modern society, a teacher to a professor or any other person feels low status in a society by admitting his/her ward in a government school. However, all teachers are not sailing in the same boat as there are thousands of teachers who have admitted their wards proudly in government schools. The enrolment of government schools will increase more in future, as the department is plugging all infrastructure gaps, initiating rationalization, avoiding deputations of teachers for other assignments, and filling of all the vacancies in the department. The infrastructure development and facilities in all government schools would not only enhance the quality of education but also attract more students to the government schools.
Honestly speaking, for the last few years, corruption has been much reduced in all the departments including the education department. The transparency, accountability and work culture in the education department has much improved. The negative perception and tag about less work culture in government schools has abolished and the same could be the other reasons for increasing enrolment in the government schools. The enrollment drive is a commendable effort to increase the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir and let us hope and expect that it will continue in future for the welfare of all stakeholders.
(The author is a teacher at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwa Budgam. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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