Higher education priority for Govt: Sakina Itoo

Srinagar, Oct 15: The minister for education Sakina Itoo on Wednesday said the Jammu and Kashmir Government has not achieved everything in one year but has made a good start.

She was addressing the students and faculty during a function organised to celebrate 75 years of Government College for Women M A Road Srinagar.

She said the chief minister Omar Abdullah has prioritised education and health sector in budget allocation. "I will not say that we have achieved everything in one year, there is a lot to be done in the future. The government is improving the education system," she said.

She said that the NC government has made certain achievements in one year in the Higher Education Department (HED). "During the previous, several colleges were left incomplete in the past years and were not made functional. But as of now I am happy to share that the government has made all the colleges, except one or two, having disputes, functional," she said.

Sakina Itoo said there were a lot of vacancies in higher education which were filled since the NC government was formed. "We have appointed 140 new Assistant Professors in different colleges," she said. She said the HED was facing a major challenge in implementation of the transfer policy as the faculty members were not ready to serve in remote areas.

"When we see the file, nobody wants to work in remote areas during the early period of their services, when they are young. When we do not contribute our services in remote areas at an early stage it becomes very difficult to transfer the faculty to remote areas when they reach the age of retirement," Sakina Itoo said.

She said while checking the transfer list the department often comes across the names of those professors retiring in the next two to three years.

"At that time, we cannot put him in a remote area. Our effort remains to keep him close to home so that he can do his work there in a better way," he said.

She urged the teaching faculty of all colleges to remain prepared to serve in remote areas.