Srinagar: Union Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar on Sunday concluded his three-day visit to Kashmir. He was in the valley as part of the third phase of the Central Government’s Public Outreach Programme. During his visit, he laid the foundation stone of a 100 bedded Gujjar and Bakarwal Hostel in South Kashmir’s Kulgam.
Addressing media at the end of his tour at Guest House west here, Dr. Sarkar expressed satisfaction with the overall development in the education sector in the Union Territory of J&K and said that funds received by the UT for education have gone up from Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 9,600 crore in the last two years, which is a matter of pride.
The Minister also informed the gathering that according to the National Achievements Survey, the rank of Jammu and Kashmir has improved from 17 to 8 in the last five years, which is very optimistic to know. He said that this is a considerable improvement for the UT.
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“Class 10 pass percentage in the UT has gone up by three percentage points. An increase of 3.4 percent in the pass percentage is nothing less than record-breaking,” he said.
Dr. Sarkar expressed happiness at the increase in enrolment of children in the government schools which he said has gone up considerably in the last two years. He also expressed satisfaction at the setting up of smart classrooms in more and more schools at UT.
Talking about the National Education Policy (NEP), the Minister expressed happiness at the speed of progress being made in setting up infrastructure and said that 70,000 new enrolments have been recorded in Kashmir at the primary level in the recent past.
Dr. Sarkar also said that the national curriculum framework concerning NEP is very democratic in the country and suggestions are taken from all stakeholders including students and their parents for improvement of the system.
In the context of higher education, the Minister said that an inter-disciplinary approach has been introduced at UT which will help students to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the country.
He said that there is considerable improvement in the participation of students in academic as well as extracurricular activities.
Dr. Sarkar later participated in the inauguration of 75 Digital Banking Units in the country. The program was inaugurated remotely by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(KDC)
