Srinagar: Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir Monday said the relevance of education imparted at the Schools, Colleges and Universities is being questioned on the reasoning that these institutions are churning out graduates and professionals, the majority of whom are not employable.
“We have to address this concerning issue before it gets too late,” Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir said in his presidential address during the inaugural session of the weeklong workshop “faculty development for SIE and DIET functionaries,” organised by the School of Education at Nowgam campus of the university.
He, however, said that there have also been several instances wherein the graduates from Indian universities and colleges have achieved tremendous success in both private and public institutions of other countries and are heading the same. Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir said this is the first weeklong workshop organised by the CUK’s department of Teacher education for ‘faculty development of DIET and SIE functionaries.’ He said all the topics to be discussed and deliberated during the workshop are important not only for DIET and SIE, but for teachers at every level. He said the workshop is of utmost importance as the universities get their product from the colleges who in turn get the students from the higher secondary schools. “Unless you are not in a position to provide quality education in schools, the product coming out to receive admission in the colleges and subsequently in the varsities, won’t be good enough to make their mark in their respective fields,” Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir added.
In his keynote address, Dean School of Education, Prof. N A Nadeem, said this is a very rare occasion, wherein senior functionaries of SIE, DIET, Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) and Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) have assembled together to discuss their problems and issues and will try to resolve them for the betterment of the education system. He said the outcome of the deliberations during the six-day workshop would be consolidated in the form of recommendations that would be submitted to the State administration for speedy implementation. Prof. Nadeem said that our main focus is to impart quality education in Schools and several networks and institutions including (SIEs, DIETs, BOSE, DSEK, SSAs, RMSA and other related agencies ) have been established who unfortunately are working in isolation and not in unison due to which the teachers confront immense difficulties. “The Government of India has now adopted an integrated approach wherein efforts would be made to bring these institutions together so that they would work in tandem for providing quality education to the children,” Prof. Nadeem said, adding the State Governments across the country would be also adopting the same mechanism very soon. He said that there has been some kind of systemic failure in School education system despite having huge potential and infrastructure. Prof. Nadeem also made a detailed presentation focusing on the identification of the issues confronted by SIEs, DIETs and other allied teacher training institution and stated that this is the right time to re-orient.
Registrar, Prof. Fayaz A Nikka while addressing the participants said, a teacher plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of the children and inculcating the moral and ethical values. “The mistake of any teacher would have adverse effects and long-term implications on the society,” Prof. Nika said. He said that an excellent teacher inspires children to achieve the goals and also contribute immensely to the overall development of the youth and the nation.
In her welcome address, Coordinator Teacher Education and the workshop Prof. Nighat Basu gave a brief introduction about the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) saying that these have been established by the Government of India in each district to help in the implementation of the policies of the government. “They have been established as centres of guidance for educational institutes and schools and work as a platform for research and experimental work in the education domain.”
She said the main objective of holding the workshop was to give orientation and sensitize the State Institute of Education (SIE) and DIET senior functionaries to execute the implementation of latest government policies and programmes, methodological and pedagogical issues with special reference to Curriculum Transaction Strategy.
The controller of Examination, Prof. Parveen Pandit, hailed the Teachers Education department of the university for organizing the workshop and bringing all the stakeholders in teacher education under one umbrella. Prof. Parveen Pandit said, “if we can bring our minds together, we can bring a positive change in teacher training programmes.” She said that keeping in view the advent of information technology and the use of the World Wide Web by the students, the teachers have to remain abreast and updated in their respective fields.
Associate Professor School of Education, Dr. Syed Zahoor Ahmad Geelani conducted the programme proceedings and introduced the workshop theme.