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Hello Jammu News at 5:45:00 PM 0


JAMMU, JUNE 18 - Minister for School Education, Hajj & Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today said there is no dearth of talent in the youth of the state provided they get right opportunities and platform to perform.
The Minister said this while addressing the gathering during an annual event ‘Udhgosh’ organized by a private coaching institute here.
Stressing on the importance of effective time management for achieving success, the Minister impressed upon the students to follow time management routine to increase productivity, improve quality of work and also for reducing stress.
Zulfkar complimented the spirit and confidence of the students who have cracked various competitive examinations and appreciated the efforts of private sector for exploring the potential of the students for achieving best results at state and national levels.
“It is the dream of parents to see their wards perform well in the field of their choice,” the Minister said, adding that, both the parents and the teachers have equal responsibility to nurture the future of children according to the modern-day trends so that they keep pace with the fast-growing technologies.
He appealed the youth to refrain from drug menace, which has eaten the vitals of the society. He exhorted upon them to involve themselves in sports activities. Sports not only helps in shaping overall personality but also helps in development of mind, he added.
He further stressed for inculcating moral and value-based knowledge among the students so that they can become responsible citizens. However, he said, the role of parents is equally crucial for the overall personality development of the children.
He said the private sector is doing excellent work in the field of education and government acknowledges their contribution in improving literacy rate in the state.
On the occasion, a cultural performance was also presented by the students of the institute which was highly appreciated by the audience.

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Hello Jammu News at 6:40:00 PM 0

SRINAGAR, JUNE 14: Applauding the role of private educational institutes in the state Minister for School Education, Haj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali acknowledged that the private schools have played a phenomenal role in the disseminating quality education in the region.
The Minister expressed these views at prize giving ceremony of the winners of State level Naat Competition, organized by private schools association earlier during the day in the Auditorium of Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR).
Explaining the purpose of schooling, the Minister said that teachers from public as well as private sectors need to understand that the core purpose of schooling is to endow the students with the best knowledge. Such should be the preparation that our students should be able compete in today’s competitive jobs market, the Minister added.
The Minister said as a part of developed society it becomes the responsibility of education providing institutions to promote the best habits with independent thought among their students. He said instead of imposing things, need of the hour is to let the children discover their strengths, and to make the most of their talents.
Zulfkar Ali acknowledged that to achieve the desired results, public and private sectors need to work in synergy. He said the frequent exchange of ideas between government and private school associations would surely help in raising the education standards in the State.
He said no one can deny the significant role private schools have and are still playing in strengthening the State’s education sector. He admitted that it is with the ongoing support from the private schools that the Governments in the past and even in the present times has managed to provide quality education the students of the State.
Reiterating the need to work hard, the Minister said everyone, public as well as private schools need to reinvent themselves and their image among the masses.
He said everyone is well aware with the fact that while private schools are doing a social service by providing education, they are also required to generate revenue for themselves as it is a business venture where a person who has invested needs to get returns. But, he added, there needs to be a reasonable balance between the two.
Secretary School Education Farooq Shah, Director School Education Kashmir G N Itoo, president private school association G N Var, along with the representatives of other schools were present in the function.
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Hello Jammu News at 7:05:00 PM 0

Discuss reforms taken by Delhi Govt in Edu Sector
NEW DELHI, JUNE 07: Minister of School Education, Haj & Auqaf and Tribal Affairs, Zulfkar Ali today called on the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia who is also holding charge of Education Portfolio in the National Capital.
Both the leaders discussed the education scenario and latest trends in it. Sisodia elaborated on various reforms taken by the Government of Delhi during last few years due to which Delhi Government Schools have been rated at par with private schools of Delhi during CBSE Examinations.
Sisodia explained that the main focus of Delhi Government is to develop creativity among the children in the age group of 3 to 7 years for which early childhood care centres have been established. In a major step towards the reforms, Delhi Government has relieved the teachers from all administrative assignments in order to enable them to focus solely on teaching. In order to maintain the infrastructure, the Delhi Government has appointed the Estates Officers for better management.
He further informed that Delhi Government has made certain steps for exposure of the teachers by sending them to other parts of the world viz Finland and Cambridge to gain world-class exposure.
Delhi government have also created a pool of dedicated teachers for various training and a monitor model has been adopted where the academic performance of schools is regularly monitored.
While responding to the discussions, Choudhary Zulfikar offered that a group of trained mentors can be nominated to visit Jammu & Kashmir and have inspirational interaction with the teachers in J&K State which will be followed by a reciprocal visit of teachers of J&K to Delhi. He further desired that during the current academic year a team of teachers comprising 1000 teachers will be considered for teachers exchange program.
Choudhary Zulfikar also visited various schools of Delhi government and desired to establish similar infrastructure in the state as well.
He extended an invitation to Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi to visit the state of J&K so that both the states should work in coordination in the field of Education. He was also accompanied by Secretary School Education Department J&K Farooq Shah, State Project Director, SSA, Abdul Rashid War, Director School Education-Kashmir, G.N. Itoo and Director School Education-Jammu R K Srangal.
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Hello Jammu News at 7:39:00 PM 0


NEW DELHI, JUNE 06: Minister of School Education, Haj & Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, called on the Union Minister for Human Resource Development Parkash Javadekar here today.
On the occasion, Zulfkar urged the Union Minister for the establishment of 50 residential schools of par excellence with an intake capacity of 50000 students in Jammu and Kashmir.
He asked the Union Minister to provide adequate grants for modernization of seminaries across the state so that the students there also became competent to compete with new challenges of the world by knowing modern subjects like English, Maths, Science and Computers.
The Minister also asked for support for the start of the students and teachers exchange programme to remove the misgivings about Kashmir in the rest of country and vice versa besides being an opportunity for educational exposure.
Zulfkar told Javadekar to provide an adequate number of High and Higher Secondary Schools under RMSA in the Jammu and Kashmir.
It was said that the Union Minister agreed to provide all possible support to provide up-gradation of schools in the aspirational districts of Jammu & Kashmir viz; Baramulla and Kupwara in the first phase.
Zulfkar also sought special assistance to establish school for specially-abled children in all the 22 districts of the state.
He also took up the matter of deficit salary of the SSA Teachers amounting to Rs. 1162.01 crore. He also discussed the issues related to RMSA regarding providing of better infrastructure, furniture, adequate sanitation facilities in the schools and enhancement in the cost of uniform keeping in view the GST Enhancement and Climatic Conditions.
The issue of providing more ICT and CAL centres in Elementary and Secondary Education was discussed for providing quality education to students in internet-connected smart classrooms and computer labs. The Union Minister assured that all possible efforts shall be taken to provide ICT and CAL Centres in the remaining educational institutions.
The issue of upgradation of civil works in the schools and Girls Hostel, where construction cannot be taken up due to non-availability of land and other issues were also taken up in the meeting and it was assured that the necessary steps in this regard shall be taken by the MHRD on priority.
During the meeting, Zulfkar urged the Union Minister for the opening of Kendriya Vidyalays, Jawahar Navodya Vidyalays in the state to provide quality education to the students living in the border and far-flung areas of the state.
The Union Minister agreed to provide five (5) Kendriya Vidyalays in the Border districts of the state. He assured the Minister to give the due consideration to the issues raised in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by PS to Union HRD Minister Mandeep.K. Bhandari, Secretary School Education Department J&K Farooq Shah, State Project Director SSA Abdul Rashid War, Director School Education-Kashmir G.N. Itoo, Director School Education-Jammu R.K. Srangal.

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Hello Jammu News at 8:43:00 PM 0

‘Process for establishment of JK Madrassa board underway’
RAJOURI, JUNE 02: Minister for Hajj and Auqaf, Education and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today appealed the religious leaders to take lead in reviving the value-based society through their teachings.
He said that from generations these institutions have helped inculcate values and morals among the people, spreading ideals of universal brotherhood, tolerance, respect and care for elderly and compassion for the weak. He stressed upon the Ullema that besides imparting religious knowledge they should use their influence for spreading moral values for betterment of society at large, which is witnessing a systemic moral degradation.
He was speaking at a meeting of Ullema of Rajouri here at Dak bungalow. Ulema from different parts of the district under the banner of Anjuman Ulema e Ahle Sunnat attended the meet. Notable among them were Ghulam Rasool, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Farooq, Abdul Khaliq, Ghulam Yaseen and Ghulam Mohiudin.
Senior district administration functionaries including Deputy Commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, ACR Abdul Qayoom Mir, Special Officer Auqaf Raj Mohammad and Administrator Auqaf Islamia Rajouri Abdul Qayoom Dar were also present.
The participants informed the Minster about the challenges confronting Madrasas, including system of teaching and pedagogy, recruitment and emoluments of Imams, Molvis & Khateeb, and paucity of funds for various functional purposes.
Responding to the issues, the minister said the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is keen to give due recognition to the services of Ulemas in the state and this can be achieved by giving a institutional set up to them. In this regard, he said process for formulation of J&K Madrasa board has already been started, prototype worked out and efforts are underway to carve out an institution much at par with Madrasa boards in other states of the country.
He further said that there is an immediate need to bring in some order in the functioning of Madrasa and Madrasa boards are the inevitable options. Addressing the participants, the Minister emphasised that Madrasa boards will help in dealing with a whole gamut of things including preparation of syllabi; certification of course, set eligibility criteria for practice, categorisation and remuneration of ulemas, scrutinising, grading and payment of Imams and Khateebs.
The Minster also said that the government is very much concerned about safeguarding the Auqaf property in the state and for retrieving the encroached Auqaf land. The land retrieved is planned to be used for creating valuable assets which could provide the necessary capital source for funding organisation and functioning of mosques and madarsas, he added.
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Hello Jammu News at 8:44:00 PM 0


Listens to people’s issues at Rajouri
RAJOURI JUNE 01: The Minister for Education, Hajj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali  today said that  the government will conduct a detailed and comprehensive audit  to get an insight into infrastructure and manpower requirements in the government educational institutes .
He said based on inputs of audit reports a policy will be formulated to fill the infrastructural gaps and maintain healthy teacher student ratio. He said efforts will be made to meet bare minimum infrastructure for all schools including building, water electricity supply and equipment for modern education.
The Minister was speaking at a public meeting convened   to have first hand appraisal of public issues and demands and review follow up on directions issued in previous public meetings.
A number of issues confronting the public ranging from up-gradation of roads, payment of wages under MGNREGA and 14th FC, water scarcity, strengthening of power supply system, completion of buildings of health and educational institutions to up-gradation of schools and health centres, payment of land acquisition cases, provision of hand pumps in drought hit areas and water tanker services to various habitations among others were raised in the meeting.
The Minister said that  many new initiatives are underway to transform the education sector. He said newly sanctioned  colleges, school  up-gradation , Eklavya model schools for each district and university campuses in border and hilly district are going to further revolutionize the education scenario in the state. He said   transfers, rationalisation of staff and matters related to recruitment of contractual staff at district level will be entrusted to Deputy Commissioners and controlling officers of education department will be spared for monitoring of education deliverance in the schools.
He said the transfers would be rationalized  so that everyone in teaching staff get  posting in urban as well as rural areas. 
Meanwhile, the Minister gave  on spot directions to concerned officers for resolving issues raised by the public. He impressed upon the officers to adhere to timelines in execution of developmental projects while ensuring maximum utilisation of available resources. The Minister asked the DDC to formulate a comprehensive drought management plan in consultation with concerned agencies to address the water woes of the public. He instructed for night inspection of pumping stations to ensure drinking water is provided to the public.
About non-payment of wages under MGNREGA, the  Minister was informed that Rs 10 Cr have been released against a spill over liability of 76 Cr.
The Minister directed the DDC to resolve the issue of non-payments of work done under various schemes of rural development. 
Later, the Minister also reviewed progress on upcoming development  projects in Darhal Constituency including Patli Qila Ecopark, Koteranka amusement park, Ans Irrigation Canal, Rajouri-Koteranka-Khawas road, ITI Koteranka etc. He directed the concerned to expedite the pace of work to achieve time bound completion of the projects.
On the side lines of the meeting, a deputation of J&K RET Federation called upon the Minister and sought  to resolve the issue of salaries under SSA. The Minister assured the deputation that government is working on a policy to address their genuine grievances.
Present on the occasion were DDC Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, DSEJ R K Srangal, ADC Koteranka Shafiq Ahmad, SSP Yougal Manhas,  Special Officer Auqaf Islamia Raj Mohammad, CEO Tourism Dr Tahir Firdous, ACD Akhtar Hussain Qazi, SE PHE, I & FC Rafiq Khan, SE PWD Majid Khan, ExEns Mushtaq Raina, Munshi Khan and Zubair Ahmad and officers from district and subdivisional administration Koteranka.

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Hello Jammu News at 7:47:00 PM 0

Inaugurates 24 projects in education sector worth Rs 12 cr in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, MAY 29: Minister for School Education, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, today called for making a conducive and stress-free working environment for the teachers to improve the academic scenario in the State.
The Minister expressed these views in an informal interaction with employees, after inaugurating the renovated Additional Block at the Directorate of School Education Kashmir. The block was renovated at the cost of Rs 1.15 crore.
Minister of State for Housing & Urban Development, Social welfare, Health & Medical Education, Power Development and Industries & Commerce Asiea Naqash, Legislator, Noor Mohammed, Secretary School Education Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director School Education Kashmir Dr G N Itoo, Director RAMSA Tufail Matoo, Director SSA A R War were and other officers of the School Education Department were present on the occasion.
Appreciating the staff of the Education Department, the Minister said that he is well aware of the hard yards the employees are putting in to deliver their duties. However, there is always scope for improvement, he added.
The Minister explained that by making a teacher to visit the directorate office frequently only to get his due work done, eventually affects the education of the students in his designated school. He said this is what needs to be curtailed to almost zero level.
Zulfkar said the concerned officers and their subordinates, especially clerks can greatly help in reducing the stress of the teachers by ensuring that their service incentives in the shape of annual increments, timely promotions-in-setu promotion, leave sanctions, awards for exemplary services are done in a fair and time-bound manner.
He attributed clerks as the powerful tool of the system. He said it is a clerk who is the base of any work as it is they who start and prepare a file which eventually reaches to highest offices for final approval.
Reiterating the need for adopting a positive approach, the Minister said it is the positive approach towards life and work which helps in benefiting others in a good manner.
He urged upon the concerned for wide publicity of the departmental grievance portal and toll-free 24/7 number, so that people could be kept in the loop with all the latest developments happening in the department.
On the occasion, the Minister also informed that he has directed the Director School Education to remain available from 9 am to 5 pm in the directorate office to sort out genuine issues of the visitors there.
Attributing managing of human resource a challenge, the Minister said the education department has a huge human resource and managing it efficiently is in itself a great achievement.
 “I believe de-centralization of power can greatly reduce the time taken to resolve the genuine issues of the concerned. I am up for empowering my Chief Education Officers, Zonal Educational Officers so that the issues related to employees, primarily teachers and parents are resolved easily,” the Minister explained.
 Earlier, Zulfkar did the online inauguration of 24 projects worth around Rs 12 crore, which were completed under SSA, RAMSA, and State Capex budget. The works included 10 school buildings, seven additional accommodations, three additional class rooms, one science laboratory, one examination hall, and one pre-fabricated hut.
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Hello Jammu News at 7:18:00 PM 0

‘Govt, Pvt schools should work in synergy for child development’
SRINAGAR, MAY 28: 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.
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Hello Jammu News at 6:35:00 PM 0

SRINAGAR, MAY 28: Returning the proposal submitted for uniform academic session, Minister for School Education, Hajj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today directed the concerned to put the issue of uniform academic session in public domain for discussion.
Speaking during a review meeting, the Minister said holding academic session in both summer and winter zones of the State is a big decision.
He said it is imperative that the opinion of every stakeholder, which includes teachers, academicians, representatives from private schools associations, parents, should be taken on board before taking any decision on the matter.
Within a given time frame, the Minister said in-depth deliberations should be done on the issue, by holding workshops, seminars, conference to seek the opinions of various shades from all quarters.

During the meeting, the Minister also directed to formulate a committee to discuss devise a proper education policy. It was decided that the committee would be headed by Chairperson Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) and Director School Education Kashmir, Director Education Jammu, Director Academics, Director SSA, Director RAMSA, Principal State Institute of Trainings would be the members. Besides, give noted academicians would be nominated by the Government out of the panel submitted by the Chairperson.
The committee, while taking private schools associations on board, would also be entrusted for formulating a common curriculum for all the schools of the State.
Making teaching of Urdu compulsory up to fifth standard as and where applicable, the Minister directed the concerned to issue an immediate order in this regard.
Giving the background for the decision, the Minister said a group of 30 legislators from Jammu had a detailed meeting with him, where they apprised him with the issues Jammu students face for want of Urdu language while applying for jobs in departments like revenue, judiciary where Urdu is the business language.
For the establishment of already announced separate schools for specially-abled children, the Minister directed the concerned that the intake capacity of the children in each residential school would be 100. He said therefore, DPRs worth of 10 crore each with all facilities encapsulated need to be prepared from the two reputed agencies at an earliest.
Zeroing in on the location of the schools, the Minister said Boys High School Sonawar, and Boys Higher Secondary School Bakshinagar would be converted in the residential schools for the specially-abled children.
Zulfkar Ali also directed for creating a Human Resource Wing. Asking the directors from both the division to provide required human resource for the wing, the Minister said the wing would compile all the information regarding the teachers working for the department. It will have every minute detail from when has the teacher joined the department, where and what periods has s/he served, how many trainings and transfers has the teacher under gone so far, and other related details.
He said if put in place, the wing will greatly help in creating a transparent system which in turn will help transferring of teachers.
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 and other concerned officers were present in the meeting.
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Hello Jammu News at 8:00:00 PM 0

Directs for converting Hari Singh HSS into school for special children
 JAMMU, MAY 26: The Minister for School Education, Haj & Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today directed the education department to take steps for converting Hari Singh Higher Secondary School into school for specially-abled children.
He directed the School education authorities to complete all the required formalities including posting of well trained staff and creation of requisite infra-structure for the children with special needs.   “Skill development and honing of latent talent through training be given special attention in the school to help the children to become self-reliant,” he added.
The Minister gave the directions during inspection of different schools across Jammu city.
Zulfkar Ali also directed to construct Hostel for the special children on vacant land in the existing premises of the Hari Singh school.   
The schools visited by Minister  included Hari Singh Higher Secondary School, Girls Higher Secondary School Bazar Qasaban, Boys Higher Secondary School Gandhi Nagar, Girls Higher Secondary School, Canal road and Auditorium complex at Gandhi Nagar.
The Minister went around the premises of the schools and took stock of available facilities and infrastructure besides inquired about the   enrollment and sanctioned staff strength.
Interacting with the students, Zulfkar asked them to be forthcoming and strive for excellence in education. He asked them to work hard to achieve their goals and said that only those who work with honesty, dedication and vision for progress, leave a mark on the society.
He impressed upon the school faculty to make teaching-learning process more student centric and directed for adopting activity based learning so as to ensure maximum participation of students in the process.
The Minister also asked for starting music classes as an additional subject in the government schools and said that special focus has been laid on introduction of new range of subjects to make school education more vibrant and broad-based.
The Minister directed the concerned authorities to ensure that before conducting DPC the teachers undergo refresher/orientation course to keep abreast with the latest teaching styles in the fast-changing world. He said that many new concepts/ researches have come up in the teaching field which a present-day teacher should be aware of, therefore, refresher courses become important.
In order to further improve the standard of education, the Minister directed concerned authorities to develop Girls Higher Secondary School Bazar Qasaban as a Model School. He said by adopting the Model School system we will be able to produce students at par with reputed private schools adding that there is no dearth of efficient and qualified teaching staff in the government schools.
The Minister instructed Director School Education to start CM’s Super 50 Coaching Programme in Boys Higher Secondary School Gandhi Nagar as the same has already been introduced in Government Sri Ranbir Higher Secondary School. He said that under the programme, 50 students with excellent academic record in the division will be imparted coaching    for engineering, medical and other professional exams.
 He also asked school head to start kindergarten classes to put the huge and sprawling premises to better use and enable children of vicinity to   benefit from highly qualified teachers.   
During his visit to GHSS Canal road, the Minister said that it would be developed as an Heritage school. He directed Principal to digitized school library and other records of the school.
The Minister also inspected the kitchen area of these schools where mid day meals are being prepared for the students. He directed for maintaining cleanliness in the cooking area to ensure that hygienic and healthy food is served to the children.
Meanwhile Minister also visited auditorium Gandhi Nagar and directed for outsourcing for its upkeep maintenance.
The Minister was accompanied by Director School Education Rakesh Srangal, Chief Education officer, Jammu J K Sudan and other senior functionaries of concerned department.
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Hello Jammu News at 5:37:00 PM 0

SRINAGAR, MAY 25: Minister for School Education, Haj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today impressed on concerned to reduce the litigation against the departments by creating a transparent mechanism.
Speaking during a meeting to review of the ongoing court cases against the School Education, Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education, and Haj and Auqaf, the Minister said that responsibility needs to be fixed on the concerned department for why litigations are getting filed.
 “We have to make people in our departments responsible and most importantly make them accountable so that plaintiff is not forced to go to court,” the Minister said.
Stressing on the need to create a transparent mechanism, the Minister elaborated that it is imperative that such a mechanism is put in place which would ensure that people are heard and their issues are settled amicably much before they decide to go to court.
Deliberating over cases related to service matters, the Minister said that if promotions are done in a time bound manner, departmental promotion committees are organized frequently and a proper transfer policy is finalized there is no reason why people will not think of going to court.
Speaking about the functioning of private schools, the Minister said while the government is keen to work in harmony with private schools, yet it becomes the latter’s responsibility to ensure that norms fixed for private schools are adhered in letter and spirit.
Zulfkar Ali said that his office is getting frequent complaints that teachers working in private sector are not getting paid as per the set guidelines. There are some schools who are charging monthly fee from the parents for the vacation period, yet they deprive their staff of their salaries for the same time period, said the Minister, adding this is not acceptable.
The Minister said charging parents’ transportation fee during vacations is totally unethically and unacceptable, and the practice should be immediately stopped.
Speaking on fee fixation issue of private schools, the Minister said schools should charge a monthly fee as per the facilities they provide, as per the infrastructure it has, and as per the quality of staff working for it.
“A school charging several thousand rupees as monthly fee should have facilities like proper swimming pool, a big playing field, good recreational facilities, a big library, a well-qualified staff, a computer laboratory, science laboratory and other features,” the Minister said.
During the meeting, the Minister directed the concerned to ensure that no school in the State is allowed to run without having a proper registration from the department.
Zulfkar directed for issuing a circular mentioning the private schools using government resources, like their land, should reserve seats for students coming from a humble financial background of the society as per the directive issued by the apex court.
The Minister also directed the concerned to ensure that school property anywhere in the State is not used for any other purpose. He said it will be the discretion of the department to decide what it wants to do with it.
Giving the break-up of cases of School Education, the meeting was informed that a total number of 1159 cases is pending in Kashmir province. Out of this 822 are pending before High Court, 183 are pending before subordinate courts, 149 are contempt petition, while as five cases are of public interest litigation (PIL).
For Jammu division, a total number of cases pending are 2036, out of them 1921 are pending in High Court and 115 are pending before subordinate courts. Likewise, court cases pending in the administrative department are 3283.
The meeting was informed that 510 cases of JKBOSE are pending. Out of them, 240 are for Kashmir province, while 137 are for Jammu province. Out of them 64 are in HC, while as number of appeals is 10 and different correction petitions are 59.
Advocate General Jahangir Iqbal, Secretary School Education Farooq Shah, Chairperson JK BOSE Prof Veena Pandita, Commissioner Secretary Revenue Shahid Inayat-ullah, Director School Education Kashmir G N Itoo, Director School Education Jammu Rakesh Srangal, Special Secretary H L Sethi, and concerned law officers and departmental staff were present in the meeting.
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Hello Jammu News at 7:19:00 PM 0

SRINAGAR, MAY 24: Minister for School Education, Haj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today announced that the Government would release salary of teachers of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) before Eid-ul-Fitr.
Speaking about the issues, the Minister said a special committee has been formed which will look into the modalities of sorting salary issue of SSA teachers.
However, the Minister said till the issue gets sorted, the department would disburse Rs 143 crore as the salary of SSA teachers from their own resources before Eid so that SSA teachers could take care of their financial issues.
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Hello Jammu News at 7:17:00 PM 0

SRINAGAR, MAY 24: Minister for School Education, Haj and Auqaf and Tribal Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today announced that Government would soon start separate schools for specially-abled children across the State.
The Minister made the announcement during a departmental review meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said although Government is making sure that concept of inclusive education is followed in letter and spirit, and a child irrespective of his health condition receives the same education as a child with normal health condition. However, he said there are some, who due to their medical condition of having 100 percent or near 100 percent disability, could not be taught in regular schools and require special care and special attention.
It is for these specially-abled children, the Minister said that Government intends to start special schools, where they could receive their education, without any hindrance.
The Minister directed both the directors from Kashmir and Jammu division to identify places across the State to establish these schools within a fortnight.
Zulfkar Ali said the department has sufficient infrastructure and some buildings can be easily converted as special schools for specially-abled children.
He directed the directors to complete all the required formalities, which include deputing well trained resource persons and putting in together the requisite infra-structure in these schools so that they would be made operational this year only.
Directing the concerned to ensure that all high schools and higher secondary schools should have ramps constructed at an earliest, the Minister said in a developed society, the needs and interests of every individual that includes people with special needs, are taken care of.
He said that lack of ramps in an educational institute defeats the concept of inclusive education.
The Minister informed that under the central scheme of ‘Shala Darpan’ the Government would provide 1800 computer tablets to 2458 high schools and higher secondary schools. 
During the meeting, the Minister was informed that during financial years of 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 the department has provided vocational training courses to 132, 220, and 200 students respectively studying in 9th to higher secondary schools. The courses included were health, retail, information technology, travel and tourism, security, telecom, agriculture, media and entertainment.
Secretary School Education, Director School Education Kashmir, Director School Education Jammu, Director RMSA, Director SSA, Chief Engineers R&B, and other concerned were present in the meeting.
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