Education needs serious effort
The covid-19 pandemic has made us to learn various lessons. It has not only redefined the way we conduct our daily lives but various sectors like education too have been hit very hard.
Education in particular has witnessed a paradigm shift with all schools and colleges shut since the past eight months now and a new mode of education coming to fore and students are being made to cope with it.
Given the new conditions that have been adapted to get the education sector back on track we need to focus on improving the quality of education being imparted to students during these covid times.
Besides, the pandemic has also pointed out to the emerging trend that the education facilities need to be made localized so that students can avail the best of facilities and shape their career.
Those associated with education sector also need to plan for the future as every year almost 12,000 students from Kashmir valley end up joining various professional colleges outside Jammu and Kashmir to seek education in those streams which are not available here.
The movement of such a large number of students every year is also affecting the economy of the region as rough surveys suggest that around Rs 1800 crore of cash moves out of the region because of this phenomenon.
Under these circumstances various questions are raised as to why Kashmir valley is lacking in establishing institutions of higher learning. And secondly, why isn’t the local breed of investors coming out with a solution to this problem.
The question also remains as to why the government is not allowing the local entrepreneurs to invest in education sector so that they could establish colleges and Universities in Kashmir which could boost employment opportunities in the investment starved Valley and also help in retaining the flight of cash from this region.
The education sector has seen negligence is evident from the fact that very few colleges have come up in the private sector in Kashmir valley. For this the onus lies on the government as well as no effort has been put in into this crucial sector and set things straight.
The government should have promoted investment even from private sector in higher education and professional streams. For this a clear cut policy such as a single window clearance system should have been put in place so that more and more private players could have entered the sector.
Under ease of doing business, there has to be a mechanism in Kashmir that anybody having requisite infrastructure and capital in place should be allowed to establish quality educational institutions which could hold the students back.
For turning this effort into a reality no proposal has been even mooted over the years which tell us about the lack of interest in this regard.
Though the entrepreneurs and even the academicians have resources to open world-class colleges and universities in Kashmir, but it is the government that has been repeatedly blocking any such move.
As of now more than 100 proposals are pending in government offices for want of clearance for the establishment of private colleges. Such is the seriousness of the government that it is yet to bring a private universities Act.
KV Network
