Srinagar: A task force set up by School Education department to make suggestions on infrastructural gaps and other issues in February 2018 has failed to make any headway.
The task force headed by then Minister of State for Education was supposed to make its recommendations within a month.
These issues of concern included infrastructural gaps in schools, introduction of new subjects, regulation of staff at various levels and filling up of vacant posts and referral of vacancies to recruiting agencies.
Apart from the minister chairing the task force, the then state project directors of erstwhile SSA and RMSA schemes, directors of School Education, Kashmir and Jammu, Additional Secretary Administration and Joint Director Planning were its members.
Apart from the members meeting a couple of times and the government extending the term by an additional month, the task force has not filed its recommendations to the department, an official told Kashmir Reader.
Although the members had identified the infrastructural gaps at schools, the transfer of the members of the task force since then had derailed their working, he added.
Besides, the members also failed to consult the then legislators for assistance to overcome the issues.
While the recommendations by the members on infrastructural gaps in schools are awaited, the department informed early this year that more than 5000 schools in J&K were without drinking water facility.
It also said that nearly two thousand schools were without a toilet for boys and over one thousand schools did not have a toilet for girls.
The absence of separate toilet facilities for boys and girls at more than 3,000 schools in the state was despite the required funds “already available with the Director School Education concerned”, as per the department.
Introduction of new subjects- another issue, which the task force was supposed to make recommendations on- has also not been dealt with while the department has consistently failed to introduce proposed subjects at higher secondary level.
Secretary School Education Department, Sarita Chauhan could not be contacted for comments.

Irshad Khan