Education Minister Sakina Itoo on Friday stated that the government has not taken over the management committees of FAT schools in Kashmir.
In an exclusive interview with Media, Itoo said that after the formation of the National Conference (NC) government, parents and students approached the authorities, raising concerns that the managing committees of these schools had “expired,” putting the students’ futures at risk.
The statement came after the Secretary of the School Education Department (SED) issued an order on Friday stating that the managing committees of 215 FAT schools would be taken over by the concerned Deputy Commissioners, “who shall propose a fresh managing committee in due course for the concerned schools after getting these duly verified.”
Education Minister Sakina Itoo said that after the formation of the NC government, parents and teachers raised concerns that the careers of their children were at stake, as the verification of the managing committees of around 221 schools had not been completed by the CID.
“The verification of the managing committees of these schools was negative and remained pending. This created problems for students during registration for the 9th to 12th exams, as their forms were not issued by the Board of School Education,” Itoo explained.
She added that around 51,363 students were enrolled in these schools, whose futures were at risk due to the expiry of the managing committees.
“To protect the students’ interests, we decided that the principal of the nearest higher secondary school would act as in-charge of these FAT schools,” Itoo said, clarifying that the teachers, students, and buildings would remain the same.
“The file approved by me clearly stated that the principal of the nearby higher secondary school would look after these institutions. However, today’s order incorrectly mentioned that DCs would take over the managing committees, which was not part of my approval,” she added.
Itoo explained that this interim arrangement was necessary as the tenure of the previous managing committees had expired.
“The look-after arrangement will remain in place for three months, after which a review will be conducted. A new managing committee will then be formed and sent to the CID for verification,” she said.
She emphasized that the arrangement was made to address the difficulties faced by students during Board of School Education exams.
“The government has not taken over these schools. Our principals will manage these institutions until new committees are formed. The tenure of previous committees has expired, and their CID verification was negative. People should not be confused by the government’s decision,” the education minister concluded. (Agencies)
