Minister for Education, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today said the credit for the accomplishments in education sector goes to the teachers and other staff of the department who are working tirelessly for streamlining the system.“Taking note of the fact that the Education Department has started witnessing visible transformation on the ground, the government increased the CAPEX Budget of the School Education Department for the year 2018-19 to keep the momentum of the infrastructure upgradation, “the Minister said while replying to the discussion in Upper House on the working of Education Department.He said the investment in education sector means investment in the future of the children. “We cannot afford to make our students suffer for shortage of staff. Teachers have to be discharged from all non-teaching assignments, including election-related duties and other duties,” he said. He said the Department is working with Legislators, cutting across the political divide to identify schools, in order of their preference, in their respective constituencies which qualify for upgradation. “Our students have great potential and it is our responsibility to provide adequate facilities and other related atmosphere to hone their talent and make them responsible citizens of the society and also link their education with skill and employability,” he said.
He said in this regard vocational education is being imparted in 10 trades including IT/ITES, Retail, Healthcare, Travel & Tourism, Agriculture, Telecommunications, Physical Education, Beauty and wellness, Media & Entertainment and Security. “It shall be my endeavour to broaden the scope of trades after proper mapping,” he added.He said the government will soon come up with a policy to elevate the educational infrastructure in the state. “Majority of the government schools are in a pathetic condition and lack of basic facilities like electricity, drinking water, lavatories, ramps, playgrounds, computer-aided labs and tools of modern learning like Smart Classrooms,” he said and added that the sector needs huge investment to provide such facilities. He said the government is committed to decrease the infrastructural gaps in the education sector and the quality of education being imparted to the students in schools will be paramount importance of the government.Earlier, several members including Saif-ud-Din Bhat, Naresh Kumar Gupta, Vibod Gupta, Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo, Ghulam Nabi Monga, Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Ajatshatru Singh, Showkat Hussain Ganaie, Sham Lal Bhagat, Ramesh Arora and Mohammad Khursheed Aalam participated in the discussion on the functioning of theEducation Department.