3 months on, appointment of Chairman JKBOSE, Director SCERT caught in official wrangles

Srinagar, Jul 24: The appointment of the Chairman J&K Board of School Education (BOSE) and Director of SCERT remains mired in official wrangles, with the government yet to finalise a selection from the panel submitted by the search committee.

The inordinate delay in making final selection for the post of Chairman JKBOSE and Director SCERT has left both the institutions without permanent heads.

The appointment is awaited despite the passage of over three months since the Search Committee interacted with the candidates shortlisted for the post of chairman JKBOSE and director SCERT.

This newspaper earlier reported that the Search Committee constituted by the J&K Government, on April 4 held interaction with the shortlisted candidates for the post of Chairman JKBOSE and Director J&K State Council of Educational Research and Trainings (SCERT).

However, there seems to be no further headway in the selection process.

The interaction was held at civil Secretariat Jammu wherein the search committee headed its chairman interacted with the 15 candidates shortlisted for the post of Chairman JKBOSE and Director SCERT.

The Search Committee was reconstituted in December last year for recommending the panel of the candidates for the appointment as Chairman JKBOSE and the Director J&K SCERT.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, minister for education Sakina Itoo hinted towards the file being caught in official wrangles, causing delay in making final selection of the candidates

"The search committee had submitted the panel of candidates when Shantmanu was heading the School Education Department (SED) as Additional Chief Secretary. But there were some queries in it. But later Shantmanu was transferred," Sakina Itoo said.

She said that the file is now in the office of the new Secretary SED. "The file is under process," she said without divulging the present status of the process.

Amid the delay by the government in appointing Chairman JKBOSE and Director SCERT, sources said that the authorities were not satisfied with candidates shortlisted for the posts, particularly Chairman JKBOSE.

"That is the reason it is taking much time to appoint the candidates on these two positions," a top official informed Greater Kashmir.

In June, the education minister told Greater Kashmir that positions of Chairman JKBOSE and Director SCERT were crucial, and the selected candidates must be highly competent to effectively discharge their responsibilities.

"One who will be appointed as chairman of JKBOSE and Director SCERT should be able to deliver. Our whole education system is dependent on SCERT and Board," she had said.

Meanwhile, the sources said that some professors, who have already served in JKBOSE were trying hard to get the temporary charge of the Chairman JKBOSE till final selection of the candidates is made by the government.

As already reported, the Search committee was headed by Administrative Secretary Agricultural Production Department as its chairman while the then Administrative Secretary of School Education Department (SED), GAD and Higher Education Department (HED) were its members.

The other two members of the search committee include Vice Chancellor University of Kashmir (KU) and Vice Chancellor University of Jammu (JU).