Schools in Kashmir asked not to send students to Pahalgam

Srinagar: To avoid overcrowding in south Kashmir's Pahalgam resort, which is to serve as the base camp for annual Amarnath yatra, authorities in Kashmir Valley ordered schools to refrain from sending students on excursions there.
            
Director School Education Kashmir issued "strict instructions" to all heads of government and private educational institutions that they should refrain from sending students on excursion to Pahalgam, an official spokesman said.
            
Pahalgam resort and Baltal near Sonamarg resort act as base camps for thousands of pilgrims travelling to Amarnath cave shrine.
            
The pilgrimage is scheduled to begin from June 25.

Scholarships for J and K youth for higher studies outside state

New Delhi: Students clearing their Class XII or equivalent from CBSE-affiliated schools in Jammu and Kashmir will be eligible for scholarships for pursuing higher studies outside the state.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the amendments in the special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir by including students who pass Class XII or equivalent exam from CBSE-affiliated schools in the state.

Earlier this scheme was open to only those students who passed Class XII or the equivalent exam from the J&K Board, an official release said.

"This would increase the inclusivity of the scheme and would make many more students eligible to avail the benefit under this scheme. This revision would be effective from the academic year 2011-12," it added.

An Expert Group constituted by the Prime Minister in August 2010 to formulate jobs plan, involving the public and private sectors, had suggested offering fresh scholarships for the next five years to encourage the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to pursue higher studies outside the state.

Accordingly, a Central Sector Scheme was devised for payment of scholarship to students belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, pursuing general degree courses, engineering, medical studies and other professional courses in government colleges, institutes and other reputed institutes located outside the state. 

J&K Govt establishes nursing Council

Jammu: In a bid to further strengthen medical services in the state, the state government has established J&K Nursing Council besides focusing on further enhancing the infrastructure, install latest equipments and appoint good faculty.

"The government has established J&K Nursing Council besides focusing on further enhancing the infrastructural edifice, latest equipments, excellent faculty and newer medical technological innovations", Minister for Medical and Technical Eduction R S Chib said while addressing 18th foundation day of Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS) at Sidhra, near here.

He said establishment of the Council would help enhance the nursing strength for better healthcare services.  

He said that the government under the stewardship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has prioritised health and medical education sector with emphasis on expanding enhanced medicare to the people of the state especially living in far-flung and sub-urban areas. 

5319 new primary schools opened in Jammu region

Jammu: A total of 5,319 new primary schools were opened and 3,001 upgraded to the level of upper primary under SSA in Jammu region.
 
"As many as 5,319 new primary schools opened and 3,001 primary schools were upgraded to the level of upper primary schools under the SSA in Jammu region", Director School Education, G A Qureshi said here.
 
As many as 3,610 Primary School Buildings, 235 Upper Primary School Buildings, 3,165 Additional Class Rooms, 275 Cluster Resource Centre and 39 Block Resource Centers have been completed under SSA in Jammu Division so far, he said.
 
He further said that besides this, 35 Kushturba Gandhi Vidhalayas (KGBVs) are functioning with 1,651 enrolment and 113 middle schools have been upgraded to the level of High School under Rural Mission school Abhiyan(RMSA).

Modern technologies will be introduced in education

Jammu: To match the growing need of result oriented education, modern scientific technologies shall be introduced in the syllabus, Jammu and Kashmir government said.

“Modern scientific technologies shall be introduced in the syllabus to make it result oriented in the modern era,” minister for higher education, labour and employment Abdul Gani Malik said at a function here.

Malik called for bringing innovations in the education system to make it in tune with the present day requirements.

The teacher community should also be acquainted with the modern techniques of teaching and learning so that they could contribute to grooming of the young generation in the right direction, he added.

Over 6 lakh unemployed persons registered in J-K

Jammu: District employment and counselling centres in Jammu and Kashmir have registered 6.03 lakh unemployed persons upto the end of 2011, a state minister said.

“District employment and counselling centres registered 6.03 lakhs unemployed persons upto end of 2011 in the state,” Minister for Higher Education, Abdul Gani Malik said here. Of these 3,133 were illiterate, and rest educated unemployed youths, the minister said.

Malik said the Employment Facilitating Agency has been effectively steering implementation of Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme (SKEWPY) to provide job opportunities to the youth.

Referring to Voluntary Service Allowance (VSA) coverage, the minister said that 34,474 educated unemployed youth have been covered as against 24,724 of last year and an amount of Rs 9.39 crore has been disbursed among the beneficiaries.

He said the expenditure is expected to cross Rs 25 crore by the end of this financial year as the coverage rising steeply in next.

He said 2,704 units were set up during last fiscal, providing employment to 5,950 persons and 3,201 units have been set up during current fiscal providing employment to 6,960 persons as on ending February 2012.

The minister said that during the last two years, 39,000 appointments have been made through PSC, State Services Recruitment Board and Police Recruitment Board.

Employment Department is coordinating with Government of India in implementing “UDDAN” project envisaged by the Expert Group On Employment wherein educated youth shall be placed and employed in the corporate sector commensurate to their skill level, he said.

Under the Seed Capital Fund Scheme implemented through the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) about 1,104 units have been cleared by the Steering committee involving loans of Rs 66.75 crores and seed capital of Rs 36.88 cores, the Minister said.

So far 8 proposals envisaging training and employment of about 12,000 unemployed youth have been approved by GOI. The target is to train 40,000 educated unemployed in five years, the minister said.

Srinagar NITs intake capacity increased to 632 seats: JK Govt

Jammu: The intake capacity of National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Srinagar has been increased to 632 seats, Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Abdul Gani Malik said.
    
"The erstwhile Regional Engineering College, Srinagar has been upgraded to the level of NIT and its intake capacity has been increased from 330 to 632 seats," Malik told the Legislative Council here.
 
He said admission to NIT, Srinagar is made on the basis of AIEEE merit list.
    
Malik said 50 per cent of the seats are reserved for students of the state and rest for students on all-India merit basis.

Omar for efforts to boost higher education in JK

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said there was need for a comprehensive vision  document for development of higher education in the state in a balanced and scientific manner.
    
Addressing the first meeting of J&K State Advisory Council for Higher Education (ACHE) here, Omar termed development of the sector as need of the hour to meet modern challenges and asked educationists to work in this regard.
    
"Vice Chancellors of various universities and educational experts should come up with this document for deliberations and finalisation in the Council so that it forms an appropriate edifice for achieving academic excellence in the state," he said, calling for efforts to make the state the choicest destination for higher studies.
    
He said the development of human resource in educational centres should be qualitative enough to attract students from other places to pursue higher studies in Jammu and Kashmir.