A delegation of Private Schools Association today called on Minister for School Education Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali and held a detailed discussion on various issues.The delegation, led by the association president G N Var, while welcoming the recent reforms made by the Minister requested that Government should also seek their opinion while devising new education policy.The delegation members suggested that a decision should be taken to declare March session as examination session across the State.After giving them a patient hearing, the Minister responded that Government would never bring any reform or any law which would not be people friendly. He said he has already issued orders to take all the stakeholders, which includes private schools associations on board before devising an education policy.Regarding march examination session demand, the Minister said the department is looking at all the pros and cons regarding the issue. He said due to geographical and topographical problems, a lot has to be taken into consideration before taking a call on it. He said Government has to think about the snowbound areas like Tanghdar, Kargil, Drass before finalising the examination session.To any query, the Minister said he would be more than happy to allow the management of private schools to get their faculty trained at Government training institutes for national as well as for international level training.
However, it would be only done when private schools would assure that they would provide free education to a certain percentage of students coming from humble financial backgrounds. He asked the representatives to come up with a figure suitable for both the parties.Zulfkar Ali assured the delegation that Government is working on Jammu and Kashmir Right to Education Act where a separate chapter would be dedicated to concerns of private schools.The Minister said the Government sees the private schools as an important part of their education system in the State and assured them the former is here to encourage, and not to discourage the private schools. However, the private schools also need to figure out a list of dos and don’ts that they should adhere to in order to improve their perception among the masses.Secretary School Education Farooq Ahmad Shah, Chairperson JKBOSE Professor Veena Pandita, Director School Education Kashmir G N Itoo, Director School Education Jammu Rakesh Srangal, Director SSA G N War, other concerned officers and the representatives from various schools of Kashmir province were present in the meeting.