Educational hub Jammu

During the recent past, Jammu city and the areas around it have emerged as a major educational hub attracting students from Kashmir valley, Kargil and Leh districts. Needless to say, Jammu is a city which is the preferred destination for students from nine other districts within the region as well. In fact, it is a city where students from all 22 districts of the Union Territories (UTs) of J&K as also Ladakh can be found. The emergence of several private schools having a consistently good record and coaching centres on franchisee basis have also contributed to this phenomenon. This sector can perhaps see further growth if residential schools on the pattern of neighbouring States Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are set up. Presently, a vast majority of schools are day boarding schools only offering no accommodation. MoS in PMO Jitendra Singh was apparently alluding to the rapid strides that the city and the region have made in augmenting educational infrastructure when he visited Central University Jammu (CUJ) on Sunday. With the establishment of AIIMS in Vijaypur in near future, and IIT and IIM already functional, the region offers unparalleled educational opportunities now. Overall, several medical colleges, engineering colleges, universities, agricultural university and other institutions make it an attraction destination for students. Incidentally, it may seem a bit trifle ironic now when we look back and recall the circumstances that led to the setting up of CUJ. In fact, when a Central university was to be set up in erstwhile state of J&K a decade ago, Kashmir region was a preferred destination. However, massive agitation by all sections of people here led to the sanction of another university and that is the present CUJ. Students from far-off Kerala, north eastern states and faculty drawn from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana make Jammu truly a pan-India city. True diversity of the nation is reflected in various institutions here which are melting pots of diverse cultures and social backgrounds.