8/14/2019 Bhalessa: Education with a difference
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By Sadaket Malik
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 attendanceand tattered infrastructure to speak of in
Bhalessa; today education seems to b
e the buzz word in this seemingly sleepy, calm and laid back
town near Jammu. Itseems 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 EducationGhulam Rasool Azad who was among the first to go
to the battered and only prima
ry school the area had in his childhood. Ghulam Rasool Azad rose
to fame as he g
rew 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 educationsystem 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 ofhigher 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. Theplace boasts of 10 madrasas as of now and what s
more, apart from imparting traditi
onal 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 andArabic studies, these madrasas are following the
education pattern of government
schools and are no way bound by the shackles of religion
alone.
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 workingin 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 havebeen working hard for the past 10 years by providing
vocational training, start
ing 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 isscorching, 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 need
