Budget Revealed for Education Sector of Jammu and Kashmir
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed the Budget 2024-25 for the education sector of Jammu and Kashmir, aimed at development of education and skills of the students, for which amount of Rs 1875 crore has been allocated to schools in J&K
The funds would be provided under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (erstwhile SSA) and would include career counselling services and the establishment of modern schools under the PM SHRI scheme.
An amount of Rs 1875 crore has been allocated to rejuvenate the infrastructure in the schools, also an amount of Rs 475 crore has been allocated for the better infrastructure in colleges and universities.
It emphasizes on quality, technology, and integration improvement of schools and higher education system
“This investment will support the rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP), which seeks to transform the higher education landscape with a focus on holistic, multidisciplinary, and inclusive education,” read the contents of the budget.
The budget also promises the founding of new 2176 kindergarten classes in schools which would help in increasing early childhood education in J&K.
“Furthermore, 18,499 schools will receive sports equipment to enhance physical education and extracurricular activities among the school children,” it reads.
The budget has also kept funds for the provision of ICT labs and smart classrooms in 2584 schools with advanced learning technologies to the students.
The establishment of 43 Robotic Labs and 30 Virtual Reality Labs for schools has also been announced in J&K’s budget. Also science centres would be established in 100 schools to foster scientific inquiry and technical skills among the school children.
“Moreover, vocational education will be introduced in 554 new schools which will equip the students with practical skills and improve their employability,” it reads.
This initiative aims to bridge the educational divide and ensure that students in remote and underprivileged areas have access to the same quality of education as their peers in urban regions.
“Schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and other public institutions are functioning efficiently without any strikes or any kind of disturbances during the last four years. The earlier practice of daily hartals, strikes, stone pelting and bandhs are things of the past now,” she said in her budget speech. Also, 80 schools in tribal areas would be transformed into smart schools.
“Around 20 national sports events will be organised in FY 2024-25 and placement drives for 1000 pass-outs will also be held in collaboration with big business and industrial establishments,” it reads.
The finace minister also mentioned about the peace, progress, and prosperity in the region since 2019.
She added that the congenial environment in J&K since 2019 had enabled a rapid increase in enrolment of students in primary, middle, and secondary government schools from 12.40 lakh in 2019-20 to over 14.18 lakh in 2022-23.
“The punctuality and working discipline of the teaching staff was enhanced by installing facial recognition-based attendance systems in all the schools. The capacity of polytechnic colleges is being augmented with 600 additional seats,” she said.
“The J&K government has embarked on the initiative to provide early childhood education by starting development of 15,000 pre-primary schools with an enrolment of 1.80 lakh children,” she said.
The finance minister said that thrust had also been provided to girls’ education and around 46,000 out-of-school children had been identified, enrolled in various schools, and mainstreamed to fulfill the commitment to universal education.
