Out of these 180 schools in Srinagar district, about 120 are situated in urban areas while 60 are located in rural areas

As part of its ‘Back to Village,’ programme, the government of Jammu and Kashmir has launched an ambitious project to upgrade around 180 government-run schools in Srinagar district to transform them into ‘smart schools’ equipped with all facilities that exist in private schools.

Out of these 180 schools, around 120 are situated in urban areas while 60 are located in rural areas. The government has already conducted pilot projects and modernised 25 schools in the last fiscal.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided to upgrade infrastructure of the government schools in order to improve the overall learning outcome for students by building capacities of teachers.



The Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) wrote on Twitter, “Dist. Admn. Sgr. aims to transform all govt schools (180 schools) with owned buildings in the dist. on modern lines equipping them with smart facilities and modern infrastructure.”



“The aim of the smart school project envisaging modernising of public schools to bring them at par with private schools in the district,” it wrote further.

https://twitter.com/diprjk/status/1328737317742206976

According to Srinagar District Development Commissioner Shahid Choudhary, who reviewed the progress of the project, over 150 schools were now being developed after the successful pilot project. "Community ownership and trust in teachers will hold the key," he said on Twitter.

The government has already constituted a team to undertake planning and implementation work of the project at a cost of Rs 6 crore. The project will be completed in six months.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, various steps being taken by the government as part of the project include, refurbishing of buildings where required, upgrading of furniture and equipment, round-the-clock power and water supplies, and establishment of libraries, science laboratories, IT labs and smart classes.

Apart from that, HR management, capacity building and training of teachers, continuous evaluation and society involvement, sporting infrastructure and games, skills labs and innovation grants will also be looked after by the government under the project, the report said.