Srinagar, Oct 2: Minister for Education Sakina Itoo Friday said education should go beyond textbooks, examinations and marks besides equipping children with practical knowledge, critical thinking, creativity and the ability to solve real-life problems.
Addressing a function organised by the School Education Department (SED) and the Department of Culture, to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Sakina Itoo said the rapid pace of technological and economic change has made it imperative for the education system to prepare students for a world where new opportunities and challenges were emerging with each passing day.
“Gandhiji understood education as a means to improve human abilities, character and thinking. Education was not just limited to books,” she said.
Sakina Itoo said the purpose of education should not be restricted to securing employment, but should also focus on building confidence, responsibility and good citizenship.
“We should try not to limit education to examinations and marks, but connect it with life,” she said,
She added that students must be taught to think, ask questions, learn new skills and find solutions to problems.
“Technology should be used not merely as a teaching tool but as a means of developing practical abilities among students,” She said.
Minister for education also called for greater emphasis on physical and practical subjects, particularly in fields such as agriculture, health and technology.
“Our young people should not only be job seekers but should become job creators,” she said.
Referring to Jammu and Kashmir’s educational heritage, the minister said the region’s traditional strengths needed to be combined with modern education, technology and skills.
She also stressed the need to preserve cultural values while preparing students to compete in a rapidly changing world.
“We need to create a balance where our young people can move forward with the world, but also follow their own principles,” Itoo said, adding that peace, tolerance and mutual respect should remain integral to education.
She said the schools must become spaces where students learn to respect differences of opinion rather than treat disagreement as hostility.
The minister also placed teachers at the centre of educational reforms, saying no reform could succeed without empowered and well-trained teachers.
“A good teacher can not only teach a book, but can also shape children’s thinking, personality and future,” she said.
Itoo called for modern training and teaching methods for teachers and emphasised that their experience should not be ignored.
“Teachers need to act as role models and prepare students for practical life beyond the classroom,” she added.
Addressing students, she invoked Gandhi’s principles of truth, hard work and service, asking them to consider how they would use their education.
“Use your knowledge to serve humanity and use technology responsibly. Respect your parents and teachers,” she said.
Itoo said academic marks alone should not determine a student’s success but education should ultimately enable young people to use their knowledge and character constructively in life.
She also called for universal access to basic and quality education, particularly for children in remote areas, and urged greater investment in teachers, modern training and school infrastructure.
“It is not enough to just remember Gandhi’s principles. We should make his principles a part of our children’s education,” she said.
Itoo said classrooms should become places where “knowledge, respect, creativity and innovation” can flourish, enabling students to prepare not merely for examinations but for life.
She called for the creation of a generation capable of contributing to society and building a better future for Jammu and Kashmir through their “thoughts and passion.”
