Private coaching is nothing but mere business, says Minister
Srinagar: Minister for Education Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari on Saturday expressed displeasure over the practice of private coaching saying that people involved in private coaching of students were promoting the menace to run their business.
The minister stated this during inauguration of Chief Minister’s (CM’S) super 50 coaching programme for competitive exams at Government High School Hyderpora here.
“People who are spreading this menace are actually spreading a drug and has influenced the students,” he said and asked the parents to avoid sending school children for private coaching in lower classes.
“You (parents) should understand that private coaching is equally hazardous for health of students. It is not possible for kids to remain occupied with their studies 24 hours,” he said.
According to officials, around 5000 students applied for CM’s super 50 coaching out of which 3500 appeared in the screening test. Later, 1263 students qualified the screening test and were allotted different centres for coaching under this programme.
The education minister said each centre accommodates 100 students- 50 for engineering and 50 for medical. “But the divisional centre set up at Hyderpora school has enrolled 200 students for this coaching,” he said.
He said the government was not against private coaching for competitive exams but said students should stop going for private tuitions in lower classes.
“Parents should trust us and our education system. Stop private coaching of students for one year and we will give you good results,” he said.
He said the students in private and government schools can be taught during remedial classes in winters in case they need extra attention.
“There are different categories of students and those who need extra classes can be taught through remedial classes in winters,” the minister said.
Bukhari said that 95 percent government and private schools complete the syllabus of students in an academic calendar but students have still developed habit of opting for private coaching.
“We have also identified 10 government schools in every zone where students from lower to class 12th will be given free tuition in winters. We have put in place heating facilities for students and in coming three years I assure that we will have centrally heating system in government schools,” he said.
The minister said the department was working on an academic calendar to ensure maximum number of working days and complete the syllabus of students.
“An expert committee will work on it and our directorate in Kashmir will coordinate with them. We will ensure to have required number of working days in each academic calendar,” he said.
“If we won’t be able to open schools on working days due to various reasons then we will keep them open on holidays,” he said.
Earlier speaking at the occasion, secretary school education department Farooq Ahmad Shah said the CM’s super 50 coaching programme was initiated for the students who don’t afford private coaching for their competitive exams.
“We are working to bring excellence in academics and our focus is also on training of teachers as well,” he said.
He further said the results of class 10th and 12th class annual Board of School Education (BOSE) examination will be declared by the end of this month.
“The results for class 10th and 12th will be declared by BOSE by the end of this December month,” he said.
In his welcome address, Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) GN Itoo said the department has setup 13 centres under CM’s super 50 coaching programme across Kashmir including Leh and Kargil.
“In 2015, 23 students from CM’s super 50 qualified different professional exams and 60 students qualified different professional exams in 2016,” he said.
KV Correspondent
