Srinagar: In a first, the Tribal Affairs Department (TAD) of J&K has approved a series of reforms for the tribal hostels across Jammu and Kashmir with an aim to provide state-of-the art educational facilities to tribal students and focus on outcome based quality education and skilling.
These major reforms were approved in a meeting of UT level committee headed by Secretary, TAD, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary. The committee also approved number of measures and schemes being launched with immediate effect from the current academic year for providing such state o art facilities to tribal students.
With an endeavour to provide educational facilities to the students throughout the year, the department has notified that hostels will remain functional round the year instead of 10 months as in vogue. The committee also decided that special courses will be run during the vacation period for skilling of students including tribal students volunteering to enrol for such courses.
The committee also accorded approval for 75% enhancement in the daily diet rate increasing it to Rs 175 per student per day with immediate effect, up from existing Rs 100 per student per day. The committee has also recommended enhancement to Rs 300 per student per day to be taken up in Revised Estimates of budget.
Moreover, in an another significant decision, the committee approved the “Technology Enabled Education Scheme” for hostel students under which students enrolled in Class XI, XII and PG courses will be provided Tabs-PCs with pre-loaded study material including books, animations, mind-maps, resource material and references.
The students will be allowed to own the Tab even after being relieved from hostels on completion of course. More than 1000 students studying in notified classes will be provided these tabs before 31st July 2022.
The Tribal Research Institute (TRI) has been entrusted with course and content design for tabs and providing them to students.
The committee has also boosted the tuition system in hostels with enhancement in the honorarium for tutors increasing it from the existing rates of Rs 1000, Rs 1200 and Rs 1500 for tutors of Class 6th to 8th, 9th to 10th and 11th & 12th, respectively to Rs 3000, Rs 4500 and Rs 6000 per month, which is a 3-4 times hike.
Meanwhile, the committee also reviewed the proposal for 25 new hostels which are being approved for current financial year at a cost of Rs 100.00 Cr and completion of languishing hostels.