SRINAGAR: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar today chaired a meeting to review the performance and functioning of the School education department as well as progress on the implementation of Project Samagra Shiksha across Jammu and Kashmir at the Civil Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary of Education, Alok Kumar; Director School Education Kashmir, Tassaduq Hussain Mir; Director School Education Jammu, Ashok Kumar Sharma; Project Director Samagra Shiksha, Deep Raj; Special Secretary, SED, Naseer Ahmad; Chairman JKBOSE, Parikshat Singh; Chief Education Officers of all districts and other concerned officers both in person and through video conferencing.
During the meeting, an extensive evaluation of the performance and functioning of both the directorates was held to ensure that the quality of education is maintained as well as to identify the strengths and areas requiring improvement for enhancing educational outcomes across J&K.
While reviewing the implementation of Project Samagra Shiksha, Advisor Bhatnagar maintained that this flagship initiative was designed to improve the quality of education across the country. He highlighted that the various elements of the project like infrastructure development, teacher training and curriculum enhancement, play a crucial role in shaping the future of education in Jammu and Kashmir with much impact on the development of students and educators across the region.
The Advisor called upon the officers for timely completion of the infrastructure including the Girl’s hostel buildings and timely handover of the same. He also asked them for immediate operationalisation of girls’ hostels and deployment of required staff at these places. He advised them to devise a mechanism of enrolling female students of any institution of the catchment areas in these hostels so that they can take due advantage of this infrastructure.
While reviewing the teacher training initiatives of Project Samagra Shiksha, Advisor Bhatnagar impressed upon the officers to prepare a thorough plan for the training of teachers so that the required outcomes can be achieved. He also stressed on them to prepare a framework for assessing the competency of the teachers based on the achievement of learning outcomes by the students during the year so that the required capacity building of teachers can be done.
Meanwhile, the Advisor also reviewed the performance and functioning of the Directorates of Jammu as well as Kashmir.
The Advisor asked both Directors to prepare a long-term plan for increasing the literacy rate in educationally backward blocks. He also asked them to submit a detailed report on the present percentage of literacy of each educationally backward block within fifteen days.
Advisor Bhatnagar further asked the directors to rationalize the Pupil-Teacher ratio, besides conducting regular capacity building of teachers in order to abreast them with modern educational tools required for improving the quality of education and enhancing learning outcomes.
He stressed on the officers to focus on competency-based learning so that students can develop a better understanding of concepts that can be implemented in real situations.
While reviewing the steps taken to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER), the Advisor asked the officers to involve PRI representatives of the concerned areas in enhancing the GER of those areas where it is low He also impressed upon the officers to involve PRI representatives in monitoring of schools.
While reviewing SAMIKSHA, NIPUN BHARAT, ICT & Digital Initiatives, Vocational Education, Aaghaaz Labs ( Astro-Physics labs) and other initiatives, the Advisor delved upon concerned officers to take due diligence while implementing these initiatives on the ground as they will transform the educational landscape here.
Regarding the SAMIKSHA feedback mechanism, the Advisor asked both the Directors to act on responses received from the students. He advised them to use this feedback for taking focused improvement measures During the meeting, both the Directors and Project Director Samagra Shiksha gave a detailed presentation about their respective sectors.
