KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar Saturday called for employing innovative methods of teaching to bring J&K’s education sector at par with global standards.
“The government is focused on improving the quality of education both at school and college levels and various initiatives have already been taken in this regard while many more are in the pipeline,” Akhtar said while addressing the inaugural session of the maiden Educational Conclave-2016 organized by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir at SKICC here today.
Akhtar lauded the pioneering initiatives taken by the education department during the last one year which he said have started yielding results, an official spokesperson said this evening.
The Minister said rationalization has become a highly popular decision and people are now demanding more such schools to be clubbed together. He said employment of improved teaching methods has led to the increase in the enrolment in government schools and the students of these schools can now compete with their counterparts from prestigious private educational institutions.
He said the CM’s Super 50 programme has become a game-changer and around 35 students from this programme have qualified various competitive examinations including JEE.
The Minister said the government is going to establish two Cluster Universities one each in Jammu and Srinagar to open more avenues for higher education in the state.
He said the start of evening classes at Kashmir University has absorbed 1500 new students who could have otherwise went outside for pursuing the similar degrees.
He said that judicious use of resources in education sector can do wonders. The evening classes are also going to be started in Amar Singh College, SP Colleges, Bemina Degree College and other colleges of the state. He said this will also have spill over effect on local economy.
The minister termed the government teachers as the guardians of students most of whom are less fortunate due to income gap and less educated parents. He asked them to work with dedication and give these children new hope of life and career. He said the department has declared 2016 as the “Year of Expression” and the schools are witnessing the results. When students learn to ask things, it will bring revolution, he said.
The minister said that the biggest change will come when the mind set of people will change from pessimism to optimism. He asked the teachers to leave behind negativity and adopt positivity.
The minister asked the teachers to use innovative methods of teaching freely available on internet and provided by experts employed by the department. He also asked the cluster heads to organize weekly workshops of teachers where teachers can learn from each other.
He said the students have the right to learn in a stress-free atmosphere and there should be extracurricular activities like screening of movies, field trips and frequent use of laboratories and WiFi.
He asked the teachers to make students feel free and bring liberties to them. He stressed the need to give utmost importance on English language as this same will make our students fit for any job in the entire world.
He said that the collaboration with British Council, Pratham NGO, corporate sector and others will certainly help to bridge the gap. He said that with the use of innovative methods, we will be able to produce enabled students instead of disabled certificate holders.
The minister also answered the questions from students and teachers during an interactive session.
