Leading Change

Serving education with a

difference
By Sadaket Malik

“The unprecedented increase of educational

institutions in rural areas is the testimony to growth
in the knowledge and educational sector in hilly
village of Jammu & Kashmir”.

The unprecedented increase of educational institutions in rural areas

is the testimony to growth in the knowledge and educational sector in
hilly village of Jammu & Kashmir. The IGNOU Study centre,
Government Degree College, Industrial Training Institute and
Madrasa’s at Bhalessa are shining examples of the commitment to
streamline education in this otherwise rural and improvised terrain.

Historically, the tattering educational affairs in Bhalessa town

were altered after G R Azad era. The people seemed interested to
access the rural information centres in this hilly terrain, and were
shaped by the then Director Education Ghulam Rasool Azad who
belongs from the area. Packed with outstanding achievements, Ghulam
Rasool Azad left no stone unturned to revamp the education system of
the area. As ill luck would have it this legendary man not remained
among the people.
At this moment, Bhalessa has been revealed as a hub of
education as the introduction of new institutions of higher learning and
increases impetus on the information technology and professional
education. IGNOU and some other organisations have started churning
several industrially employable graduates from the area.
The setting up of Government Higher secondary schools in
Gowari, Sinoo, Jakyas, Gandoh, Malanoo has had its great significance
over the past five years as the people of these areas thought of higher
objectives.
The local people were demanding immediate setting up of
Government Degree College at Bhalessa and the government finally
established the same. IGNOU and some other organizations like ITI
started churning several graduates in diverse disciplines is an
unprecedented growth towards the education of this hilly terrain.

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IGNOU set up its centre in Bhalessa in the year 2006 and was
galvanized by the local masses and administration.
Apart from academic and vocational side, there are Maddersa’s
in this improvised area. There is rising tide in madersa education too,
as is being witnessed today.
Interestingly, the number of Madrasa rose to ten. Besides
nurturing the Islamic clerics from these Madersa’s including Hafiz,
these institutions seemed increasingly imparting modern education
also at the pattern of other government schools under the ambit of the
state government.
Innovative madrasa’s like the Jamia Gunyat ul Uloom are
increasingly visible today, Jamia Gunyat ul Uloom Bhatyas established
in the year 1983 and was named after Hazrat Abdul Gani Sadiqui. The
madersa is managed by Gunyat Ul Uloom Trust Bhalessa is the largest
Institution imparting Madersa and academic education to the students
of hilly terrain of Bhalessa. It currently has more than a thousand
students on its rolls. Patterned on the Dar ul Uloom Deoband model, it
is one of the few madrasas in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that
provide Islamic education till the Alim Fazil or specialization level.
Besides Jamia, there are several other maddersa’s like Maddersa
Asrar Ul Uloom at Neeli Bhalessa named after Shah Asrar ud Din
Bagdadi (RA).
Other Madersas are:- Maddersa Anwar-e-Madina Gandoh,
Maddersa Aweesya Ameenya Dhraveri, Gulshan-e-Madina at Dhadkai
hamlet, Akhyar ul Uloom at Kahara, Gayas Ul Uloom at Gingota hamlet,
Inam ul Uloom at Donadi, Ume-Sadiqa at Kilhotran, and Zia-ul Uloom at
Thathri.
In these madrasah’s, the academic education envisaged by the
state education department is being provided besides the Islamic and
Arabic studies like recitation of Quran popularly known as Hifz and
Ulema to become isamic clerics.
Besides, Jamia Um-e-Sadiqa is popular in the sense that local
girls are enrolled to get Islamic education; it is for the first time in the
history of the area that girls are witnessed to embrace the Alima
course locally.
There were several forces at work help to create educational
assess to information to the elites inhibiting the villages nearby, such
forces include NGOs framed by intellectual strata.
In the summer of 1996, a few NGOs got together to think of ways
in which they could play a role in the development of education in hilly
terrain of Bhalessa Doda of J&K state. These young people shared the
belief that education is a critical requisite and an effective catalyst for
social and economic change in the area. Educational awareness
became the agenda for the action group that emerged from this
gathering, to represent the hope that had brought these individuals

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together and the hope that they aimed to bring into the lives of youth
of the area.
The organization like Kohistan Association headed by Ghulam
Hussain Bhall, National Students Welfare Association and NHRD
Society managed free education camps for the students who were
unable to perceive their education.
The NGO culture seemed its head high Educational
Environmental social sports and cultural society Bhalessa, National
Students Welfare Association Bhalessa, Kohistan Association Bhalessa.
These NGOs involved themselves in mass cultivation programmes
including education I mention the contribution of these NGOs here,
Over 10 years all these NGOs started free education camping’s/
summer schools for the needy students of the area, EESS&CS created
general mass awareness about education particularly on the issues of
environmental side of education, The NGO sponsored a school named
“Shaikh-ul-Alam School at Changa in 2003-04, However, the society
headed by a veteran environmentalist, Mohammed Ayoub Zargar has
had sponsored Gayasaya Model School under the memory of Hazrat
Gayas-ud-Din (RA) Where as, NGO- Kohistan Association, NHRDS has
to be credited in this direction. These NGO organized six free education
camps in Bhalessa in early five years.
NGO National Students Welfare Association Bhalessa is having its
holistic contribution for setting up of an IGNOU Special study centre in
Bhalessa and putting forth the demand for setting up of Government
Degree College at Kilhotran.
IGNOU as an innovative institution has started churning
industrially oriented people. This is for the first time in the history of
the state that IGNOU has offered such programmes under the scheme
of special centres, in collaboration with an NGO- National Students
Welfare Association (NSWA)

As far as primary education is concerned, there are two

separate educational zones controlled by ZEO Gandoh covering all
area of Gandoh, Neeli, Dudwar, Gowari, Jitota upto Khaljugasar
Panchayat, and ZEO Bhatyas covering areas like Malanoo, Kahara,
Jakyas upto halaran village.

On being prompted by the Tehsil Administration and Sub

Divisional Magistrate Bhalessa, students and teachers of all these
Institutions share a single table on the eve of Independence Day
celebrations where they deliver patriotic speeches.

As per the preliminary survey conducted by local NGO-National

Students’ Welfare Association (NSWA) Bhalessa, there are dozen of
schools wherein the students have to stay under open air to get

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education. Some such schools are either having no building or
damaged infrastructure.
Ironically, the Government Middle School in Manoye
Bhatyas is the testimony of the state of sorry affairs as the
students has to stay under the lap of nature to get instructions
from their teachers. The school building is totally damaged
and students in a bad weather conditions have to leave their
studies. In summer it becomes difficult for innocent poor
children to stay in the school owing to the inadequate
infrastructure like buildings.
The infrastructure of the most of these schools is in a bad shape. Some
schools are without buildings and some are lacking teachers.
Very recently, the government under the leadership of the then Chief
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mohammed Sharief Niaz MLA
Bhaderwah sanctioned one Degree College at Kilhotran, that too is
confronting inadequate infrastructure facilities like accommodation,
the college is being run from single or two rooms vacated by
Government Higher secondary school kilhotran, and finally the school
has become prey of inadequate infrastructure forcing the students to
sit in an open air. The state government should wake up to provide
necessary infrastructure to these institutions of the area.

Sadaket A Malik is a researcher in education and a freelance

Journalist. He has 100 published Articles on educational
policy parameters. His articles are published in 6 countries in
the newspapers like American Chronicle, California
Chronicle, Kashmir Times, Daily Excelsior, World Sentinel
Meri News, NVO News, CNN, Article Base, India Post,
Himalayan Post, Huffing ton Post, Associated Content (AC),
Street Wall Journal, Los Angles Chronicle and local media. His
articles can be viewed on Internet by clicking on Google
search engine…..