Governor N. N. Vohra hosted a group of 13 boys and girls, at the Raj Bhavan here today, who have returned to the State after visiting Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Their 6 day tour was organized by the School Education Department as a part of the Student Exchange Programme between J&K and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The full group of 44 students studying in 9th, 10th and 11th classes were accompanied on their tour by Ms. Arjumand Wajahat and Sh. Raj Kumar Chadha, both Lecturers.It is pertinent to mention that Governor had earlier suggested to the Secretary School Education to encourage an exchange programme between J&K, the northern tip of India, with the Andaman Islands which are the southernmost tip of India. Sh. Farooq Ahmed Shah, Secretary School Education, Sh. Rakesh Kumar Sarngal, Director School Education Jammu and Sh. G.N. Shakir, OSD School Education Kashmir, were present on the occasion.
Governor interacted with the students and enquired about the places they had visited during their tour and what they had liked the most during the entire visit. The students were very happy about the exciting opportunity which had been provided to them to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and to experience the cultural and natural diversity of this unique archipelago.Governor emphasised the high importance of such programmes in enabling students to understand the vast diversity of our country and visiting places of historical and geographical importance. He advised that such interactive programmes should be made an integral part of school education and sports competitions should also be made a part of these programmes.Governor asked Sh. Shah to organize an essay writing competition for the children on their tour experiences and announced that he would award cash prizes to the students who wrote the best 3 essays in this contest.Governor presented gifts to the students and their teachers and wished them a very bright future ahead.