Improve the facilities

Large number of government schools lack infrastructure related facilities. In absence of these facilities students face lot of problems. Some schools are operating from dilapidated buildings or rented accommodations. While others are having lack of space, and lack of unavoidable facilities like toilets. Some school premises do not have boundary walls.

These problems should be addressed at the earliest. Necessary repairs of the school buildings must be done, new school buildings or additional classrooms, toilets and boundary walls too be constructed. There are reports that while some projects have been launched to improve the infrastructure in some schools, but the work is not completed in time.

According to a report the Union Ministry of Education (MoE) has asked the J&K School Education Department (SED) to complete all the ongoing projects in the department by the end of the current financial year. SED has been directed to ensure that the in-progress works are completed on priority this financial year.

The MoE has also observed that there has been a pendency in infrastructure facilities since the inception of the centrally-sponsored scheme like the erstwhile SSA and the in-vogue Samagra Shiksha. The SED says it has faced a roadblock in the completion of the ongoing projects or execution of the new projects after the engineering wing allotted to Samagra Shiksha J&K was withdrawn by the government in August 2023.

The move created hurdles in completing the construction of the projects and meeting the target set for completion of the projects. SED should be provided all the support to complete the projects. Since education sector is very important it should not suffer due to lack of coordination at various levels. Priority should be given so that an improvement is brought into its working and the infrastructure facilities in government schools.

Thousands of students studying in these schools are the ultimate sufferers. It is being hoped that all the ongoing projects are completed and those planned works, which have not been started yet are started in this financial year. That way as per plan, the repairs of 90 school buildings will be done and additional classrooms in 346 schools also constructed.

Twenty six elementary-level schools have to get toilets for Children with Special Needs (CWSN). Resource rooms are to be built in 94 elementary-level schools while the boundary walls have to be constructed around the 194 elementary school premises.

Girls’ toilets in 70 schools and 115 toilets in schools for boys are also to be built. It is being hoped that all these works are completed. And fresh works also planned and started for other schools needing infrastructure facilities.