An Independent candidate for Srinagar parliamentary constituency, Nisar Ahmad Ahangar, in a statement issued to the press has expressed his anguish about the deteriorating education scenario in the private sector where the unwarranted government action has left thousands of youth out of job. According to Nisar Ahangar, almost 140 private schools have been closed since the year 2020, after the advent of deadly covid-19 pandemic.
However, it was not the pandemic that forced the closure of these schools, but the government invoked certain undesirable rules wherein among other things even 40-year old private schools were asked to submit police verification.
In the given scenario, meeting certain parameters of the government order has been an uphill task and forcing the school authorities to close down their operations. This is the most unfortunate situation as students of these schools have been left in lurch and their staff, numbering more than 10000, left jobless. This has created socio-economic turmoil in the affected families and also adversely impacted the psyche of children due to the closure of their schools, said Ahangar in his handout issued to the press.
He pointed out the transformation of the education system in the region as a priority in his election manifesto released a few days back . “I will ensure the flight of capital in the sector is stopped. My efforts will be to build high quality educational infrastructure in J&K so that our students are not forced to move outside their homeland for quality/ professional education. Besides, my emphasis would be to promote Skill Development to make our youth employable and transform their future as employers,” mentions Ahangar in his manifesto.
Meanwhile, he has assured the private school fraternity that he would be taking up their issues with higher authorities so that unrest among them ends; no school is closed; and those left jobless are compensated with dignity and honor.
