SRINAGAR, APRIL 20: Minister for Education, Social Welfare and Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo chaired a meeting here today to review the performance of Samagra Shiksha.
The meeting was attended by Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, Bhawani Rakhwal; Director School Education Kashmir, Dr. G.N Itoo; Director School Education Jammu, Naseem Javid; Special Secretary, School Education department, Gulzar Ahmad Shabnam; other senior officers of Samagra Shiksha and school education department.
During the meeting, the Minister took detailed assessment of ongoing works of Samagra Shiksha under different components. She also took detailed appraisal of the forthcoming plan for the year 2025-26.
Addressing the meeting, Sakeena called upon the officers for proper utilisation of funds, besides maintaining quality of works. She directed them for strict adherence of existing tendering protocols and maintaining transparency in allotting tenders. She also asked them to give chance for local vendors in executing works under Samagra Shiksha through proper tenders.
Taking strong note of some works being allotted to some blacklisted agencies, Sakeena directed the officers that the agencies which failed to complete works in previous years on timely basis, shouldn’t be re-allotted any kind of works afresh. She further directed the officers to submit a detailed report on tenders allotted in last some years in order to detect the wrongs committed and same can be corrected.
Referring to various components of Samagra Shiksha and their impact on overall good of education sector in J&K, Sakeena Itoo impressed upon the officers for proper coordination of both the directors as well as project director in order to achieve the objectives. She highlighted that the foundational literacy, infrastructure development, and digital learning outreach can be maximised through the intervention of Samagra Shiksha.
Highlighting the importance of inclusive and equitable education, Sakeena Itoo urged the officers to prioritize girl child education, education for children with special needs (CWSN) and tribal and remote area outreach. “Our aim is to ensure no child is left behind,” she stated.
The Minister also called for timely completion of ongoing initiatives like classroom digitization, smart lab establishments, vocational training modules, and teacher capacity-building programs. She also emphasized community participation and parent engagement to strengthen the overall education ecosystem.
Acknowledging the strides made under the Samagra Shiksha, the Minister stressed on the need for accelerated and coordinated implementation of the newly approved initiatives for the year 2025-26. She asked the Project Director Samagra Shiksha to sought requirement from both the directors of school Education regarding interventions required.
Calling for regular monitoring of several works carried under Samagra Shiksha across J&K, Sakeena Itoo directed the Special Secretary School Education department to constitute a committee with representatives of Administrative department, both directors of school Education and Samagra Shiksha who will go on ground to check implementation of different initiatives of Samagra on the ground. She asked them to conduct videography of the field visits and submit the report regarding same within fifteen days.
Later, the Minister also inspected the Vidya Samiksha Kendra at Teacher Bhawan here.
During the visit, the Minister was briefed about the functioning of centre by Project Director Samagra Shiksha.
She sought live demonstration of J&K Attendance Trend Dashboard, Weekly Practice Participation test, Teacher Attendance, Student Attendance and other features of the website.
The Minister, during the visit, directed the officers to use this centre for better utilisation and improvement of schools across Jammu and Kashmir. She asked them to utilise the feedback about various interventions of Samagra obtained through this centre for upgrading the required infrastructure across schools.
