Srinagar Jan 1: Waking up to the academic loss of the students, Jammu and Kashmir government has started winter camps in all the districts of the valley to make up for 2019 education shortfalls.
Post August 5, students lost more than 150 days of classwork in the academic calendar. There are 250 days in the academic calendar in Kashmir. Of which 100 days of classwork have been lost due to the prevailing situation
To mitigate educational deficiencies, government has started winter tutorials for students in collaboration with Delhi based NGO Pratham Education Foundation in all zones.
“Ten winter camps have been started in each zone of a district for 3rd standard to 7th standard,” said an official of the Education Department.
He however said winter tutorials for class 8th to 12th have been established as per the demand of the area. “It is to encourage group learning in schools and communities. It is also aimed at increasing confidence level among the children and hone their presentation and speaking skills,” he said.
Official document of Directorate of School Education accessed by The Kashmir Monitor reveals that Rs 300 is charged as one time heating allowance from each student of 8th to 12th classes and Rs 200 is charged from each student of class 7th and below. “The timing for these camps is 11 am to 3 pm every day ,” it says
Zaldagar, Iddgah, Gulab Bagh, Nishat, Batamaloo, Hawal and Rainawari are the zones in Srinagar where winter camps have been started.
Fayaz Ahmad, Senior Officer at the office of Chief Education Officer said Srinagar district has eight zones where 80 camps has been setup. “Good number of students has come up in all the camps,” he said
Ali Mohammad Bhat, in-charge CEO of Ganderbal said in four zones of the district, 40 winter camps have been started for Class 3rd to 8th from December 28. “In each camp we have enrolled around 150 to 200 students and admission process is still going on. In just three days more than 4000 students enrolled for the winter camps,” he said
Bhat said that 23 winter tutorials for class 8th to 12th are also functional in Ganderbal where good number of students has been enrolled.
Fatimah Shaheen, CEO Budgam said around 130 winter camps have been started in 13 zones of the district and around 150-200 students are enrolled in each camp.
Besides, she said, three winter tutorial for classes 8th to 12th have been set up in each zone and admission process is going on.
