Government schools in Srinagar to get ‘smart’

Vinod Kakumanu
Dec. 4, 2020, 11:59 a.m.

The Srinagar district administration has directed some of its ambition towards schools and that may result in overhauls and transformations of the selected schools. It is reported that 180 schools have been chosen for this ambitious improvement exercise. School improvement projects would entail facility upgrades, technology integration, and the provision of smart learning tools.

The issue that is being hence addressed is rather typical, the lagging of the government schools in comparison to their private counterparts. The aim is to make government schools comparable to private schools in terms of quality of education, student retention, and of course the learning outcomes.

The budget for the project is to the tune of 60 Million rupees and there is a dedicated team to plan, implement and oversee the project.

The project in fact falls within the purview of the Jammu and Kashmir government’s ‘Back to Village’ program and is supposed to drive the up-gradation of the infrastructure along with other educational enhancement factors like capacity building of teachers and curriculum interventions.

The infrastructure development plans will include renovations and refurbishment of the buildings, ensuring quality and adequacy of furniture and appliances, provision of libraries and labs and smart classes, and sports infrastructure provision. Other interventions include ensuring uninterrupted power and water supply.

The softer side of the intervention includes HR development, which involves capacity-building programmes for teachers; assessment mechanisms and continuous evaluation processes, and optimizing society involvement in the oversight of the schools. The project also aims to afford school innovation grants.

The project is slated to cover 180 schools and was preceded by a pilot last year which involved an upgrade of 25 schools.