From a three-tier education “policy think-tank” to State Education Council headed by Chief Minister and education secretariats at the regional level, a –quasi-government panel has put forth range of recommendations to revamp the education sector, presently marred by lack of policy and disconnect between institutions and authorities.
In its voluminous report, the State Finance Commission has highlighted that though the education sector has expanded significantly in Jammu and Kashmir, it continues to be plagued by serious inadequacies. Pertinently, education department alone accounts for 24.64 percent of the total employment in the government sector.
Noting with concern that the education system in JK is more oriented towards generation of educated unemployed rather than skill formation and professional manpower augmentation, the Commission proposes setting up of three tier policy institutional mechanism to meet the challenges in the sector. These include State Higher Education Council, State Secondary Education Council and State Professional and Technical Education Council.
The State Finance Commission was constituted in 2007 to suggest to the government the measures for equitable development of all the three regions of the state. It was headed by former bureaucrat Dr Mehmood-ur-Rehman.
To operationalize this mechanism, the report calls for restructuring of the Education Department at the base level - a Director each for Kashmir and Jammu regions for Higher Education, Technical Education and Youth Affairs and Sports.
Besides it recommends that the Directorate of School Education shall in both the regions head general school education, adult education, part time education, oriental education, teacher training, education schemes/projects, 10+2 pattern education, non-formal education and state education institutes.
Laying out the functioning of the SHEC, the report recommends that it shall aid and advise the government on matters of higher education and act as “think-tank” on Higher Education Policy.
About the composition of SHEC, the report proposes that the body should have minister for HRD/Higher Education as its chairman with principal secretary of the department, vice-chancellors of Universities in JK, Financial Commissioner/Principal Secretary, HRD, three eminent educationists, Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, Principal Secretary Finance, Vice Chancellor NIEPA, New Delhi and a member nominated by UGC, as its members.
The Council shall have HRD department as its secretariat and its feeding departments would comprise the regional secretariats at Jammu and Srinagar.
These coordination councils, the report says, shall act as feeding units for the proposed apex body – the State Education Council to be headed by the chief minister.
On the same pattern the panel proposes that State Professional and Technical Education Council shall function as a “think tank” on professional and technical education policy and shall recommend measures for professional and technical education.
Besides the body, the report says, shall supervise, control, monitor, and coordinate professional and technical education and shall identify new skills, vocations, job oriented courses, and guide the technical and professional education.
The Council’s body shall comprise of minister for professional education/medical/ technical education (as the case may be) as its chairman with financial commissioner/principal secretary/commissioner and secretary, medical education, and FC/PS/C&S, technical education, Director SKIMS, Principal GMC, Srinagar, and Jammu, Directors, Health Services, Kashmir and Jammu, Director National Institute of Health Family Welfare, New Delhi, Director/Nominee Indian Council of Medical Research, two eminent medical professionals, Director ISM Kashmir and Jammu, Director Craft Technology Institute, government of India, Director NIT, Srinagar and regional secretary for Kashmir and Jammu, as its members.
The council shall have its regional secretariats as proposed in both the regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
It shall function as umbrella institutional mechanism to supervise, control, and monitor, and coordinate professional education in the regions as well as the state and shall prepare policy guidelines for the same.
The report mentions that the SSEC should be headed by Financial Commissioner/Principal Secretary HRD, with two regional secretaries for Kashmir and Jammu, eminent educationist, member NCERT, New Delhi, chairman Board of Secondary Education, and eminent social activist as its members.
Going further with its recommendations the SFC has proposed three secretariats for Human Resource Development in both the regions of Kashmir and Jammu.
The secretariat of Secondary School Education Kashmir shall comprise of Regional Secretary School/Secondary Education Kashmir and the Director of Library, Art, Culture and Languages, DSE, DYAS, DHE, DTE shall work under it. The pattern shall be followed for Jammu too.
The two regional secretariats shall function under Financial Commissioner/Principal Secretary of the proposed institutional mechanism (secretariat of HRD) who shall be the member secretaries of the respective State Education Coordination and Monitoring Councils.
The report proposes regional secretariat of Higher Education for both the regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
A professional and technical education secretariat, each for Kashmir and Jammu, shall control Director Technical Education of the respective region.
The SFC has also proposed bifurcation of Directorate of ISM- one each for Jammu and Kashmir.
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