In a bid to turn around the education sector in Jammu & Kashmir by creating a new job-oriented educational system, the coalition government of PDP-BJP has entered into pacts with international NGO Pratham, the British Council, INTACH and many other educational giants of international repute. State Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar told media persons that his ministry has signed MoUs with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT). Akhtar said he was keen on creating a new job-oriented educational system in the state.
State education officials told The Sunday Guardian that the government has decided to bring the education sector on a par with the “global academic scenario”. The “Rehbar-e-Taleem” scheme launched by the National Conference a decade ago has adversely affected the education sector, they said. “The education sector has become a dumping ground for semi-literates to get jobs and we don’t have many trained teachers,” a top state education official said. Akhtar has asked for scrutiny of the educational qualification certificates of Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers. The state government has decided to declare 2016 as the “year of expression” for students of the state.