Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Dec 20: A big number of fresh recruitments and promotions in the Department of School Education are on the card as the State Government has proposed upgradation of more than four hundred schools under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) in Jammu and Kashmir.
After a detailed mapping, a proposal for upgradation of 405 Government Middle Schools as High Schools has been sent to the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, which is likely to accord its sanction very soon, official sources informed the Excelsior.
The proposed upgradation of Government schools will necessitate fresh recruitment of more than 4000 teachers and promotion of 2000 teachers as Masters and Headmasters in the State, sources added.
Pertinent to mention here that RMSA is a Centrally sponsored scheme for enhancing access to secondary education and to improve its quality. Launched in 2009, RMSA envisages to achieve an enrolment rate of 75 percent from 52.26 percent in 2005-06 at secondary stage within five years of implementation of the scheme by providing a High School within a reasonable distance of 5 kms of any habitation.
Under RMSA Middle Schools are upgraded into High Schools and High Schools are further upgraded into Higher Secondary Schools. In Jammu and Kashmir, 500 Middle Schools have so far been upgraded to High Schools while the up-gradation of High Schools to Higher Secondary Schools has not begun here.
For the opening of new schools under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and upgradation of the existing schools under RMSA, manual mapping was done recently under U-DISE (District Information for School Education).
During this extensive exercise, which took more than six months, survey was done at ground level collecting data on enrollment in the schools, feasibility of opening new schools as well as upgradation of the existing one and topography etc. This data was compiled by the concerned Chief Education Officers and then forwarded to the Government.
As per the mapping report, 405 Government Middle Schools are required to be upgraded as High Schools across Jammu and Kashmir.
Since upgradation of each Middle School as the High Schools requires Rs one crore funding, the State Government has submitted a proposal of more than Rs 400 crore to the HRD Ministry for the approval, sources explained.
Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who holds the portfolio of School Education Department, is likely to personally visit New Delhi in next few days for pursuing the proposal and get it cleared as early as possible, sources informed.
The proposed upgradation is set to follow fresh recruitment of around 4000 teachers and promotion of about 2000 as Masters and Headmasters as under the RMSA guidelines adequate staff is to be provided for the High Schools which are upgraded from Middle Schools.
As per the guidelines the upgraded High School must have five Master grade teachers, one Headmaster and one Junior Assistant.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel