Srinagar, Feb 26: Despite introduction of Tourism as subject at 10+2 level, students opting for it find themselves in a quandary complaining that the subject is not being taught them.
 Sources said even as the Director, School Education in reply to a letter by the Commissioner-Secretary, Education Department had submitted a list of schools where the subject was to be introduced, “it is still not taught at these institutions.”
 Sources said that all the preparations had been complete to teach the subject at the schools. “Even the syllabus for the subject had been prepared by Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), yet for the reasons known to the authorities it is not being taught leaving the students who opt for the subject in a quandary,” they said. 
 According to sources what actually hinders the teaching of the subject in the schools is the non-availability of the trained and qualified staff for the subject. 
 “It is unfortunate that the Education Department is not referring the posts of teachers for teaching Tourism at the schools to the Public Service Commission (PSC),” sources said.
 Interestingly, according to sources there are many post-graduate degree holders in Tourism yet they don’t find the job. “Many post-graduates in Tourism have crossed the upper age limit prescribed by the state for government job, while others are on the verge of crossing it,” they said.
 They said there are many candidates with post graduation in tourism administration and tourism management who are already working in the Education Department and the government can avail their services too.
 The students who have opted or want to opt for the subject say they have been let down  by the authorities.
 “After passing my 10th class examination, I wanted to opt for tourism subject but felt disappointed when I was informed that the subject won’t be taught  in the school as there was no teacher available to it,” said Muhammad Hanan, a student of 11th in Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Islamabad (Anantnag), Muhamad Hanan.
 The students said the government should immediately appoint teachers for the subject so that “we are able to opt for it.”
 “Tourism being one of the major industries of Kashmir, it contributes a lot to the state economy. So there is a huge demand for professionals in this industry. But it is unfortunate that despite introducing this as a subject, the government is not appointing the teachers for it,” they students said.
 Director, School Education, Shagufta Parveen, however cited the poor response of the students for not teaching the subject at the schools.
  “The introduction of a subject depends upon the response of the students. We should have at least 20 students in a class so that we can teach a particular subject. But if we have only two or three students in a particular school who want to opt for the subject, we cannot teach it,” said Shagufta.
 She said that referring of the posts to the PSC depended on the response of the students.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 IST