Jammu, Dec 29 (KNS): Former Education Minister and Apni Party Vice President Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali on Wednesday took strong exception to a recent order by the J&K School Education Department where schools with low enrolment are to be merged.

In a statement issued here, Zulfkar termed the decision as regressive and counterproductive for the hassle-free education due to which thousands of aspiring students are going to suffer.

“The Government instead of opening up new educational institutions in J&K is passing edicts to merge the pre-existing schools in order to use the premises of the schools for other purposes. This is a sheer violation of the Right to Education which is highly disgraceful and equally regrettable at the same time,” he said.

Zulfkar said that such random orders only expose the lack of requisite information in the administrative departments which have outrightly ignored the factors like topography, terrain and distance that were kept in consideration while setting up such educational institutions across J&K.

“It gives me a sense that the government has not fully understood the factors regulating the decisions via which these schools were thrown open even in the remotest places where the student enrolments are low. This is because the law of this country is unequivocal with regards to providing education to every single child. Keeping in view that students cannot travel miles of distances, these educational institutions were constructed for their convenience, so that no one remains illiterate. However, it seems the present administration doesn’t resonate with the same belief as such,” he remarked.

Zulfkar urged the government to review its decision at an earliest and avoid putting impediments between the students and education in J&K. (KNS)