Bring Schools Back to Life

In response to Dr. Zainabi's sharp critique of Kashmir's growing reliance on coaching centers, a civic official offers a reform blueprint to reclaim the purpose, integrity, and relevance of school education, before it becomes a mere formality.

- Mir Iqbal

If coaching centers have become the primary academic space for science students, let's acknowledge this and adapt. Integrate mandatory practical work into their weekly schedules.

At least three hours per week of hands-on biology, chemistry, and physics labs should be enforced. Schools can partner with coaching institutes to ensure students meet these core requirements in meaningful, supervised ways.

But academic excellence alone is not enough. We must also nurture responsible, empathetic citizens. Coaching institutes should dedicate at least one hour a week to humanities, covering ethics, language skills, civic engagement, critical thinking, or public speaking. The doctors and engineers of tomorrow must not be strangers to society's human side.