Refer to stories and articles on the anniversary of the founder of Islamia High School, who has rightly been called as Sir Syed Khan of Kashmir. There can be no two opinions about the great vision of Moulana Rasool Shah Sahib in establishing the premiere educational institution in the Valley at a time when  the majority community in the valley was far behind in the field of education. The institution, undoubtedly, served the purpose and was in the forefront in imparting quality education in the valley, producing great luminaries in different fields— the names of some great personalities were already mentioned in the recently published articles. I have heard a lot about the glory of this institution through my ancestors and I have also heard about the contribution of general public in its development. Every family would keep a container for storing a part of their ration on daily basis as contribution for this institution. I have also heard about the dedication of its staff. But this is all history. The situation is quite disappointing at present especially when the overall global advancement in the field of education is taken into account. When the Aligarh Movement, initiated by a relatively lesser known personality in the form of a simple school could establish an internationally recognized Aligarh Muslim University with limited resources in the beginning, our Islamia High School could not maintain its past glory, not to speak of its transformation into a university or a degree college. In an interactive meeting a few years back with the management of the institution in connection with the start of Plus two. I had pointed out the same to the President of the organisation and suggested some measures for the development of this prestigious institution. I think we have all the required resources available in our valley which can be utilized effectively for the development of this institution. We have glaring examples of certain educational institutions in our valley who in spite of turmoil have maintained their quality and standards and contributed significantly to education. The need of hour is to initiate both short term as well as long term measures for reviving the lost glory of this institution and also take measures in introducing new and job oriented courses in the institute so that it can serve the purpose for which it was established by the great visionary of our valley. That will be a great to Moulana Rasool Shah Sahib.

Prof Abdul Qayoom Sidiquii
Former Head
Department of Botamy, Islamia College
qayoomsiddiqi1213@yahoo.com

Lastupdate on : Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:00:00 IST