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.

Foundation stone laid for Leh campus of Kashmir University

Srinagar: The foundation stone of Leh campus of Kashmir University was laid today by Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah laid

Kashmir University, located at Hazratbal, already has two offsite campuses in Baramulla and Anantnag districts and Leh will be the third such campus of the varsity.

Stressing the importance of access to higher education, Vohra and Omar said the establishment of a Kashmir University Campus in Leh district would enable students living in difficult areas to pursue higher education.

The Governor, who is Chancellor of the University, dwelt in detail on various aspects relating to the development of higher education institutions and production of qualified human resource which can serve Ladakh region, the state and the country.

He underlined the high potential of knowledge being transmitted through faculty exchanges, tele-conferencing and internet.

The Governor asked the University to consider a scheme for providing full scholarship to meritorious students who commit to work as teachers for specified periods after gaining qualifications from the University.

He also suggested a survey to assess the needs and aspirations of students of this region so that the campus could consider how best to meet their expectations.

Vohra said the emergence of a University campus in Leh district would relieve parents from incurring huge costs in sending their wards to distant towns to pursue higher education.
    
Omar said the idea of establishing Kashmir University campuses in Leh and Kargil was conceived in 2009 at a meeting of the Kashmir University Council chaired by the Governor.

"We could have announced this important decision three years ago but did not do so as we wanted to first ensure the availability of land and the required funds to build the infrastructure. It has taken some time but the foundation of the campus is being laid today only after we have tied up all ends," he added.

Omar referred to the state governments continuing efforts to provide equal opportunities to the students of all regions of the state to get quality education at their doorsteps. 

Centre to support to J and K efforts for youth employment: PM's Advisor

Srinagar: Prime Ministers Advisor for National Skill Development Council S Ramadorai said the Centre will lend full support to Jammu and Kashmir government in its endeavour make the youth of the state employable.
     
Chairing a meeting on ‘Skill Development here, he said the focus of efforts to tackle unemployment should be on creating a platform where employability of youth forms a central concern.
     
"Government institutions, academicians and corporate houses have a responsibility in this regard to work together and sort out issues and address the mismatch between supply and demand," Ramadorai said.
 
State Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, Joint Secretary, in Ministry of Home Affairs K Skandan, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister B B Vyas and administrative secretaries of different departments participated in the meeting.
 
While briefing Ramadorai on the initiatives taken by the state government, the Chief Secretary said the state government is following a policy of identifying sectors with large employment potential and imparting skills that will lead to higher growth and employability.
     
"Our plan is to increase by two times our existing institutional capacities and execute partnerships between the government and the industry and also to tie-up with markets outside the state and even globally to achieve our targets of employability," Lal said.
 
Skill development strategies and sectoral initiatives by various departments were presented and deliberated upon during the meeting, an official spokesman said. 
 
Progress and impact of skill development initiatives and empowerment schemes including ‘Udaan and ‘Himayat were also reviewed, he said. 

Agricultural Varsities demand 5-fold hike in central assistance

Srinagar: Vice Chancellors of Agricultural Universities of the country demanded five-fold hike in central assistance to these institutes and setting up of an Agriculture Educational Research Commission (AERC) to address the issues facing the institutes of higher learning.
 
"We demand the setting up of AERC to address the issues facing agricultural universities so that the sustainable second green revolution is achieved," President Indian Agricultural Universities Association (IAUA) C S Chakrabarti told reporters here.
 
He said this was one of the major debating points during the special meeting of IAUA, a body of vice chancellors of Agricultural universities of the country, which met here.
 
Among the other demands, IAUA wants more academic and financial autonomy for the agricultural universities, Chakrabarti said.
 
He said central assistance to these varsities should be enhanced five times so that the basic needs of academics and research in these institutions are met. 
 
Chakrabarti said state governments should directly provide the funds from the finance department to their  respective agricultural universities.
 
"The agricultural universities need to be given importance as it is these institutions which will provide the next generation technology and manpower for making the second green revolution a success," he said.

School set up for visually-impaired in Baramulla

Srinagar: A school for visually-impaired children has been set up in Baramulla district here by Army in collaboration with National Federation of Blind (NFB).

“With the aim of imparting training to visually-impaired children of Baramulla, a school has been established under the aegis of National Federation of Blind, Kashmir,” a defence spokesman said.

So far 19 students, including nine girls, have been registered in the school, which is the second-of-its-kind in the Valley. The first school is located in Srinagar and was established in late 1970s by a private trust.