EARTH NEWS SERVICE Jammu, Dec 16 |15: Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar today asked Education Department to take steps to develop Model Higher Secondary School, Akhnoor into an integrated institute of quality learning. The historical Hari Singh Higher Secondary School, Akhnoor with a massive campus area has been established eighty years back. The Minister called for converting the school into an integrated institute of learning by immediately starting nursery classes and holding classes for capacity building of teachers. The Minister visited the school during inspection of educational institutions of the Tehsil, including Government Degree College, Akhnoor and Government Degree College Khour. Expressing dismay over poor result recorded by the school in past session, the Minister asked the teachers to realize their responsibility and contribute their best in reviving the historical school. “It is unfortunate that a school with all infrastructural facilities has a dismal result. You need to revisit your teaching methods and get involved with students” he advised them. He asked teachers to go for constant classroom assessment and adopt interactive teaching methods to bridge the achievement gap. The Minister also asked the Principle to hold demonstration classes on modern teaching methods to enable teachers to develop a knack for effective teaching. He also asked teachers to focus on personality development of students, side by side, academics. “You should also focus on development of expression in the students and help them improve articulation and speaking and devise your own methods for the same” he said. The Minister also inspected adjacent Girls Higher secondary school Akhnoor. At Degree College Akhnoor, the Minister asked the College Management to devise a plan to put huge campus area of 350 Kanal to best use. Reiterating government’s resolve to make state institutions self-sustaining hubs of productive education, he asked for exploring possibility to develop herbal and ornamental plant gardens to use the said area by involving students. He also asked for exploring possibility to start paid courses in the campus, as a step towards making the institute self sustaining.
