14.5% increase in school enrolment in Jammu & Kashmir last year

Under ‘Aao School Chalein Campaign’ there has been a 14.5 per cent increase in school enrolment in 2021-22 in Jammu and Kashmir compared to the previous years.

“1,65,000 students have been enrolled in various schools of J&K. Under the unique initiative of the School Education Department, TALAASH Survey was launched. Through this initiative 20 lakh children have been surveyed and out of which, 93,508 students have been found out of schools or never enrolled,” J&K Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, said.

He said mainstreaming of out-of-school children has been initiated in the appropriate age schools. “We are committed to providing education with a value system to all meritorious students,” Sinha said and added for capacity building of teachers, a student mentorship programme, ‘Student & Teacher Engagement for Educational Reinforcement’ (STEER) has been launched in the Union Territory.

The STEER focuses on student performance in academics and to strengthen the learning outcome. As a unique initiative, ‘Matri Bhojan Yojana’ has also been implemented in UT, where mothers will visit schools to ensure quality of cooked meal.

“MoU has been signed with Akshaya Patra for the community kitchen in Jammu and Samba and it will be replicated in other districts too,” the Lt Governor said.

70,000 students enrolled in 714 government schools are being imparted vocational education in 14 different trades. 803 vocational labs have been established and 1122 more labs and 1352 smart classrooms are being established during the current financial year. The revolutionary step has been taken to establish 127 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and 1420 Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Centres. 500 additional Atal Tinkering Labs to be established this year to translate commitment into action.

“An MoU has been signed with HCL TechBee, for providing skill training to the class 12th pass out students in the UT. Our effort is to instil creativity, inquisitiveness, scientific temper, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students as per the recommendation of National Education Policy,” the L-G observed.

He said that quality education is being ensured in every school through various reforms and the dream of universal education is being realized through community participation.