Ishfaq Ahmad Shah
Srinagar, Nov 21: The Minister for Higher Education, Abdul Gani Malik Saturday revealed that out of 200 students only three make it to college level in the State.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, only three students out of 200 make it to colleges while in European countries 140 out of 200 seek higher education,” he said while addressing a gathering of scholars, academicians and students at the 3-day annual seminar on “Trends in Contemporary Literary Criticism” organised by Kashmiri department of University of Kashmir, here on Saturday.
 

Stating that J&K is an educational backward State, Malik said, “There is a need to identify various schemes to develop the State on the educational front. We lag far behind in the education sector but the good news is that the private sector is coming forth”.
He said that the government on an average has to spend Rs 12000 per student per month upto 12th standard. “The government is braving all odds to promote the education in the State,” he said.
Stating that more challenges for existing education institutions have come up after the establishment of Central University, Malik said, “CU is a challenge to the State universities. We are contemplating measures to strengthen the universities”.
Reiterating government’s commitment to improve the education system in the State, he said, “Investing money is not a big deal but we need recommendations from the civil society and scholars. Their recommendations will be discussed and enlisted for improving the education scenario in the State”.
Concerned about the Kashmiri language, Malik urged the academicians to make the language relevant to the contemporary times. “Nobody among the youth will prefer to study Kashmiri language without a reason. We have to put in efforts to make the language relevant to the students in these modern times,’ he added.