The Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, the Union Secretary, School Education & Literacy Department, Anita Karwal and the Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today discussed the functioning of the School Education Department to resolve the operational issues being faced in the efficient implementation of National Education Policy-2020 and various other schemes being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir.

Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Medical Education Department, Vivek Bhardwaj, Senior IAS Officer, Raj Kumar Goyal, Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, School Education Department, B.K Singh, Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Sheetal Nanda, Chairman and Secretary, BOSE along with the concerned officers participated in the meeting.

It was informed that the School Education Department will be shortly receiving Rs. 259 crore from the Finance Department for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan besides Rs. 28.1 crore as UT share enabling the department to submit utilization certificate of entire funds of Rs. 464 crore to the Government of India within one week. The Department was asked to prioritize early resolution of other financial issues towards effective implementation of the scheme in J&K.

Further, under the National Education Policy, the School Education Department was asked to immediately roll out the Vidya Pravesh Programme- a preschool preparation program for Class 1st students, preparing the children for school. This programme consists of a three-month play module and also includes a subject of Indian Sign language at the Secondary Level. The National Education Policy is being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir from 1st April 2022.

To suitably train the teachers in imparting quality education, the Department was asked to ensure 100% participation in the Integrated Teacher Training Program NISHTHA 2.0 by the NCERT (National Council of Education Research and Training). The Department was also asked to activate all its block and cluster resource centres.

It was further informed that to promote cognitive development in children of 3-8 years age category, the Union Government has launched a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat). The initiative will ensure that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by the year 2026-27. The School Education Department was asked to dedicatedly implement the initiative throughout primary schools of the Union territory.

It was also decided to open ten model schools in every district. Further, the SED was asked to achieve excellence in sanitation and hygiene practice in all schools and ensure their participation in the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar instituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.