Jammu, Mar 30 (KNO): Minister for Education, Social Welfare, Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo today directed the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) authorities to take firm action against Private schools indulging in arbitrary fee hikes and found violating prescribed norms or imposing unjustified financial burdens on parents.
The Education Minister passed on these directions while chairing a comprehensive review meeting at Civil Secretariat here to assess the performance, administrative functioning and ongoing academic reforms of JKBOSE.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary Education, Ram Niwas Sharma; Chairman JKBOSE, Ghulam Hassan Sheikh; Director School Education Kashmir, Naseer Ahmad Wani; senior officers of school education department and JKBOSE as well ad other concerned officers.
During the review, the Minister evaluated the Board’s preparedness for upcoming examinations, timely declaration of results, curriculum implementation and grievance redressal mechanisms. She emphasized the need for adopting technology-driven solutions to enhance operational transparency and improve coordination between schools and JKBOSE .
Highlighting the critical role of JKBOSE in shaping the academic future of students, the Minister directed officials to maintain strict quality standards and ensure accountability at all administrative levels. “JKBOSE must continue working towards a student-centric system that promotes fairness, accessibility and academic excellence”, she maintained.
Expressing concern over complaints regarding arbitrary fee hikes by certain private educational institutions, the Minister issued clear directions for constant monitoring and regular inspections of private schools. “Take firm action against Private schools indulging in arbitrary fee hikes and found violating prescribed norms or imposing unjustified financial burdens on parents”, she stated.
The Minister asked the Commissioner Secretary to form committees, comprising of School Education department and JKBOSE officers, for regular inspection and monitoring of Private schools across Jammu and Kashmir, including CBSE affiliated schools.
“Schools must function with responsibility and transparency. Any attempt to exploit students or parents through unauthorized fee structures will not be tolerated,” she asserted, adding that strict enforcement of existing regulations is essential to protect public trust.
The Minister called for strengthening coordination between district education authorities and regulatory bodies to ensure compliance with government guidelines. She also emphasized on establishing a robust feedback and grievance redressal mechanism to identify gaps and improve service delivery within the education system.
The Minister further directed the JKBOSE authorities to declare 10th class results of Summer zone areas timely. She also appreciated the Chairman JKBOSE for streamlining the availability of textbooks in all educational institutions and commended him for bringing various initiatives in the Board which has contributed to its overall operational efficiency.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to equitable and quality education, the Minister urged all stakeholders to work collectively towards building a transparent, accountable and student-friendly educational ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
During the meeting, Chairman JKBOSE, Ghulam Hassan Sheikh gave a detailed presentation on various functional domains of JKBOSE. He informed the Minister about various initiatives undertaken by the Board under NEP-2020 like curriculum and textbook development, Foundation Stage (ECCE), Vocationalisation of Education, Equitable & Inclusive Education, Examination Reforms, State Institute of Open Schooling, IT Interventions and Energised Textbooks.
He also informed the meeting about other initiatives like integration of Vocational Subjects at Secondary and Higher Secondary Levels in various trades like Agriculture, apparels, Made ups & Home Furnishing, Automotive, Beauty & Wellness, Electronics & Hardware, Healthcare, IT/ITeS, Retail, Physical Education & Sports, Plumbing Assistant, Telecom, Tourism and Hospitality, Media & Entertainment as well as Power sector.
Further, the Chairman outlined about the Energized Textbooks initiative under DIKSHA, informing that 71 out of 89 JKBOSE published textbooks have been Energized under DIKSHA, a national digital platform for knowledge sharing for teachers for learning and professional development.
He also briefed the Minister about the various measures for Equitable and Inclusive Education (Exemptions in JKBOSE Examinations) like facility to use an amanuensis, scribe, Prompter/ Sign Language interpreter and Computer Facility to use assistive devices to write Board examination, flexibility in curricular choices (Exemption from Second language), accommodation & exemptions for Divyang/ CWSN in Board Examinations Under RPWD Act – 2016, exemption of Registration/ Examination Fee as well as relaxation in Pass Percentage with extra time in examination.
The Chairman also outlined various IT Interventions and Digitisation services in JK BOSE like full-scale functionality of e-Office in JKBOSE Central and Divisional Offices, real-time integration of Student Records with DigiLocker, besides comprehensive online services for affiliation, registration, migration, eligibility, examination forms, photostat and re-evaluation facility as well as declaration of results. He added that around 9 Lakh students/beneficiaries availed JKBOSE services in Academic Year 2025-26, besides 51.65 lakh student records are available on Digi Locker
Regarding upcoming initiatives, the Chairman informed the Minister that introduction of Two Level of Mathematics at Secondary stage is on anvil, MoU for Strengthening Skilling Programme after DUAL Recognition with NCVET, New Delhi is in final stage, implementation of Holistic Progress Cards (HPC) is being launched in PM Shri schools on pilot basis, besides Certificate and Diploma courses in ECCE is also being introduced soon—(KNO)