Reaffirming his commitment to rejuvenate the State’s education system, Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar today said conscious and concerted efforts are being made to explore potentialities in the students and promote creativity and inquisitiveness among them.The Minister was speaking at a function organised in connection with the launching of Smart Classroom at Amar Singh College here.Commissioner Secretary Education, Directors School Education, Kashmir and Jammu, Principal Amar Sigh College, Joint Director Education Kashmir, other officers, faculty and students were present on the occasion.
Akhtar said there is pressing need to free the system of education from becoming one-way traffic of stuffing the minds of students. “Instead teaching should be made more interactive,” he said and added that not only curriculum but teaching methods also need to be revisited.
The Minister said that another level of education which is key to the educational system, to the growth of the society, for the development of a knowledge society; to tap human energies and potentialities are the primary education. He said the State’s education system has been compartmentalized and one of the major initiatives of the present dispensation has been to put these in one basket, as compartments cannot be afforded in this crucial sector.The Minister said it is the primary education which is the main challenge because it is there where the minds are molded and where attitudes are formed. “If the first brick is not laid correctly the wall built as a result is always weak or faulty,” he said.
Akhtar urged the teaching community to take a lead in the efforts being made to bring back the focus on students and to bring back the glory of education system. He added that it is important to work together to bring about this change and asked for their handholding to be able to build a new education structure or the new edifice.The Minister asked the Principal of the Amar Singh College to identify and adopt a cluster of schools from the vicinity so that the faculty of the college can provide extra hand and help in improving academic environment in the identified school.
The Minister also appreciated the efforts of the students and distributed certificates among these who had developed a mobile application for the college and software for staff salary management. He also released the News Letter of the College and Books in which the faculty of the college had contributed.
Commissioner Secretary Education, Shaleen Kabra, while speaking on the occasion appreciated the efforts of the College students and said that such talent in the students is required to be nurtured and encouraged.Earlier, Principal Amar Singh College, Zahoor Ahmad Chatt, in his welcome address highlighted various achievements made by the College in different areas and also the unprecedented leaps the institution has made to achieve success in various fields. (GNS)