Govt schools won’t improve till ministers, MLAs, bureaucrats send kids there: CM

Srinagar, Aug 19: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the condition of the government schools cannot improve until the elected representatives and senior government officers enroll their kids in these institutions.

Addressing teachers and officers of the School Education Department (SED) during a conference organised on ‘National Education Policy (NEP)-2020: Challenges and Prospectus’ at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) Srinagar, CM Omar said, “I was sitting here and thinking that there must be a weakness in our education system because in my opinion, no minister, MLA, or any senior officer gets his children admitted to a government school of his own choice.”

He said: “We can’t expect to make the condition of government schools better when our own elected representatives from the Panchayat level to MLAs and senior bureaucrats do not enroll their children in government schools. In a government school, children are not provided proper classrooms because kids of elected representatives and officers are not enrolled in these schools. I can say with confidence that if kids of a CM like me are enrolled in a government school, which does not have a classroom, it will be made available within five days.”

The CM said that if the children of elected representatives and senior officers are enrolled in government schools that have a 25-year-old blackboard, the same would be replaced with a whiteboard, digital board, and other facilities.

“If we start counting the difficulties, then we will not be able to find a solution in a day. Actually, the fault lies with us who get the opportunity to run the government in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, and asked the teachers and officers not to count the problems and challenges but to come up with the solutions to make the conditions of government schools better.

CM Omar also acknowledged the role of private schools, saying that he was not against the functioning of these private schools, as they had their own importance and role in the sector.

“I am not saying that we should force people to admit their children to government schools, but we should make up our mind to bring our government schools to the level where parents feel that enrolling their children in government schools will be the best decision for their future,” he said.

The CM said this would only be possible when the government provides government teachers with all the facilities they need, in terms of infrastructure, connectivity, modern teaching techniques, and digital infrastructure.

“Once we provide all these facilities to the teachers, then only we can ask them to show the results,” he said.

Quoting Nelson Mandela, CM Omar said the most powerful weapon to change the world was education.

“We all know how much change he brought to his country and the world. So if a person like him says that the most powerful weapon to change the world is education, then we should pay attention to it because he is absolutely right,” he said.

The CM said that since the National Conference (NC) formed the government in Jammu and Kashmir, it had always focused on making the education and health sectors better.

“If we build roads, bridges, and set up factories or provide amnesty in electricity and bring tourists, it won’t serve any purpose if we don’t have education to take advantage of these things,” he said.

Referring to the conference on ‘NEP-2020: Challenges and Opportunities’, CM Omar said that results do not come from only attending the conferences at SKICC.

“We can see the benefits only when we bring the change on the ground, which is relevant to the 21st century,” he said.

The CM said that the Education and Health Departments were marred by the “disease of attachment” wherein the teachers or employees of the Health Department are recruited in Gurez, but they all want to get shifted to the city along with the post.

“I have made it clear to Sakina Itoo that I will not come to you to recommend the transfer of any of my relatives. So don’t entertain recommendations of anyone else,” he said.

CM Omar said that if transfers were done on the recommendations of influential people, it would impact those who are dedicated teachers and do not have any influence in bureaucracy.

“Ultimately, these teachers don’t remain in any mental frame to properly teach the children. We should not feel that it is a punishment to be posted in remote areas, but it should be treated as a chance to teach students in remote areas,” he said.

The CM recommended that such a system should be established where teachers who have worked in remote areas should get the best postings and promotions in the future.

“Only then will we be able to change the system and bring betterment in the education sector,” he said.

Referring to the inauguration of a hybrid school in Srinagar, CM Omar said such inaugurations in Srinagar do not make any difference, saying that there was no shortage of teachers in Srinagar or classrooms and infrastructure.

“Until we take these hybrid schools to remote areas where there is a real shortage of teachers, there is no benefit to these hybrid schools,” he said.