Minister for Education, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today put across an in-depth account of education sector requirements of Jammu and Kashmir here at the 65th meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE).The Meeting was chaired by Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar and attended by Union Minister of State MHRD Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtiar Abbas Naqvi and Ministers of Education from all states of India Secretary School Education, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Ahmed Shah along with team of senior officers of department accompanied Bukhari at the meeting.Altaf Bukhari highlighted the vital issues concerning state’s education sector including consolidation of infrastructure, capacity development of teaching staff introduction of modern and market oriented courses and technological intervention to make teaching and learning process more effective.Raising allied issues for achieving high standards of Education in the state, the Minister strongly advocated for streamlining SSA fund flow from Ministry for Human Resource Development to enable Jammu and Kashmir to pay the Teachers’ salary in time.
The J&K Minister also called upon the centre to spare teachers for only teaching and academics and do not depute them for election and other non-teaching duties. He said consolidation of infrastructure including construction of additional class rooms, buildings for schools being run from alternate accommodations and capacity development of teaching staff were immediate concerns to be met. He demanded liberal funding from MHRD for meeting these core requirements of education sector in the state. The Minister also listed the series of reforms initiated by the state to raise the standard of school education and diversify it so that the pass outs can get enough scope for progress.In his opening address the Union Minister of Human Resource Development emphasised that education is a national agenda which touches the lives of each and every individual. He also referred that in the past our country had a glorious contribution to the world both in terms of GDP and economic trade because of the world renowned educational institutions. He underscored the need to focus on improving learning outcomes and the quality of education.