Indeed, the announcement by the Director of School Education Kashmir regarding more than 70,000 new admissions in the government schools this year is wonderful and very motivating news. It signifies a tremendous hike. The public has started trusting in public education as much as the government has started committing to making education accessible, quality, and available to everyone.
For several years now, Jammu and Kashmir has been paying a very high price due to infrastructure shortages, teaching deficiencies, and perception problems about its government schools.
The focus on improving the old school infrastructures, and bringing smart classrooms for lectures and upgrading the skills of the teachers has already improved the public education patronage.
‘Influx’ is again the term used for specifying admission, meaning that parents and all other stakeholders now realize that public education has again been on the path to recovery.
There is no doubt, to be honest, that continued government investments and innovations would be placed to move further development from this point. The time has come to see what now happens after these ranges of numbers; it is now time to make sure that these new students will best receive education.
In line with the numbers that will reflect, let us hope to get adequate classrooms, trained and qualified teachers, and up-to-date tools available for students.
Retention must also be focused on; dropout rates are low compared to the numbers mentioned. The problem is even more pronounced at the secondary level, where students drop out very early due to economic stress and other incidents.
Speak with communities to know what they mean by these concerns. In addition to that, organizing regular parent-teacher association meetings, creating feedback mechanisms, and acting with transparency in the management of schools will also help cultivate public trust with the public education system. Similarly, such vocational training and skill development should also address formal education in the curricula so that learners would not just be educated, but also employable.
An enrolments of 70,000 should just be the beginning of what could be achieved when government policy is combined with cooperation and partnership for education.
For Kashmiris, this is hope, this is Kashmir where education will avail the potential for progress and development. But this is just the beginning. Continuous collective and participatory engagement, responsibility, and public engagement will be the keys to turning this success into educational excellence sustainability.
The transition that these emerging minds deserve on their path to shaping their own future, full of knowledge, ability, and confidence to build futures that will certainly be much brighter than today, is in these hands of the government as well as all teachers as well.
