SED signs MoU with Faizal-Shabana Foundation to transform public education system
‘The standard of J&K Govt schools is not up to the mark when compared to global standards’
Srinagar: The School Education Department (SED) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Faizal-Shabana Foundation (FSF), to transform the education sector and meet global standards.
The FSF, a private philanthropy focused on rebuilding underserved public schools in an effort to level the playing field for poorer students, has taken up Kothi Bagh Girls Higher Secondary School (HSS) as a pilot project.
“We will start with this school and create it as a model for transforming the public education system in J&K. We want to create a holistic model where we will look at the infrastructure, curriculum and how to improve the overall system of education for girls in J&K,” Faizal told Greater Kashmir on the sidelines of a function organized at Kothi Bagh HSS.
He said their focus will be to improve the standards of education from kindergarten to class 12th saying that the MoU will bring a big transformative initiative for developing government schools in the whole J&K.
“We will be working on fast track basis in this project as it is an important step we have taken for changing the education standards here,” he said.
He said the government schools in J&K do not meet the standard at the global level.
“The standard of this school (Kothi Bagh) which you think is great but comparing it with global standard it is not up to the mark. But we want to make it like a model which meet the standards at the global level,” he said.
Besides infrastructural development and academics, the FSF will also focus on capacity building of teachers.
“Once we are done with this project, the same model will be replicated at other places and it will bring a major change in the education sector,” he said.
The Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) Tasaduq Hussain Mir said the idea behind signing the MoU with the FSF foundation was to meet the global standards of the education.
“The foundation will look for the holistic development of the school which has been taken as the pilot project. Later same model will be replicated in other schools,” he said.
About the ongoing enrollment campaign of the directorate, the DSEK said as many as 40358 new admissions including 8000 from private schools were registered during the enrollment campaign.
“We have asked the private schools not to deny discharge certificates to the students for not clearing their fees. Instructions have been given to the school heads to enroll the new students irrespective of the discharge certificates,” he said.
He said they have received an encouraging response in mainstreaming the school drop outs during the ongoing enrollment drive.
About the complaints of unfair trade practice of private schools in nexus with the book sellers, the DSEK assured that action will be taken against the private schools for forcing parents to purchase textbooks for kids from specific bookshops.
“If any parent has any specific complaint he should come forward and register his grievance with the concerned CEO or with the Directorate. Action will be taken as per law against the erring schools," DSEK said.
With the commencement of the new academic session, most of the private schools functioning in the city have kept the text books for school children available at specific bookshops adjacently located to the institutions.
Such practices continue despite the circular instructions issued by the school education department to the private schools directing them to refrain from keeping textbooks and uniforms of students available at specific shops.
Meanwhile, the DSEK said the government has already directed the private schools to prescribe JKBOSE published textbooks to the students from class 6th onwards and any violation in that will be dealt with strictly.
“There are clear directions to private schools to adopt JKBOSE books. We were earlier concentrating on exams but now appointment of JKBOSE chairman is also done as well. We will ensure that there is no violation of government norms,” DSEK said. (Greater Kashmir)
