Education

Educational Canvas of Bhalessa

Tucked away from the limelight and hustle-bustle of the city is a town in the lap of Himalayas called Bhalessa. While nature has blessed the township with abundant resources to boast of, the other thing that this little mountain town proudly boasts of these days is the booming interest in education and growth in resources facilitating the same.

            While years back, there was just a measly primary school, with scarce attendance and tattered infrastructure to speak of in Bhalessa; today education seems to be the buzz word in this seemingly sleepy, calm and laid back town near Jammu. It seems as though a wave of change and revolution has swept over the area making it an upcoming education centre, least to say.

With numerous educational institutions supporting elementary to higher as well as technical education in the region,

            Bhalessa has become a major educational institutions centre. Where education was once a rarity today one finds numerous set-ups are feeding the town’s hunger for education; thanks to the efforts of the state and centre in this direction.

            The foundation of education in this town was laid by the then Director Education Ghulam Rasool Azad who was among the first to go to the battered and only primary school the area had in his childhood. Ghulam Rasool Azad rose to fame as he grew but never did he forget the town’s need for better education and schools. He gave the area a face-lift with his tremendous efforts and built a strong education system before he breathed his last.

            But Bhalessa could take it from there on. On constant demand of the people of this town, the government finally set up a government degree college there. And today it is an established education centre with a huge growth in institutions of higher education. Along with IGNOU, there are several institutions running professional courses in IT and similar fields in the area. IGNOU had come to Bhalessa in 2006.

            The place has seen a rampant growth in madrasas too over the past few years. The place boasts of 10 madrasas as of now and what’s more, apart from imparting traditional and religious knowledge, these madrasas are very much in sync with the modern education system too.

            Under the able guidance of the state government, in addition to the Islamic and Arabic studies, these madrasas are following the education pattern of government schools and are no way bound by the shackles of religion alone.l

            The Government Degree College at Kilhotran Bhalessa is another deather to its cap. The College is delivering its services for the sake of students adequately.

            The area is also frequented by NGOs and welfare associations which further the cause of enhancing education and its quality in Bhalessa. The major NGOs working in the area are – Educational, Environmental, Social Sports and Cultural Society Bhalessa, National Students Welfare Association Bhalessa, Kohistan Association Bhalessa.

Not only have these NGOs helped hold free education camps in the area, they have been working hard for the past 10 years by providing vocational training, starting summer schools and IGNOU Special study centres too.

However, there are still many schools in the area which lack proper funds, infrastructure and resources like teachers and even a proper building. It is difficult for children to study in such schools when its extreme summers and the sun is scorching, winters have them shivering in the open and worse still, when its raining and their books get drenched.
            Efforts are on to better these schools and provide the basic amenities much needed for proper education. And while that is being done, noteworthy is the invincible spirit of the students which brings them right back to their temple of knowledge, even though it’s broken and is without a roof.

Maybe for the people of this hill town, education is a critical requirement; one, which will ensure both, a social as well as economic change in the area. It is probably for this reason that their hunger for education is insatiable; for it gives them hope; hope for a better and brighter future.