The State’s Situation, in general
Uttarakhand, with a literacy rate of more than 70%, has been one of the frontrunners as far as the development and spread of education is concerned. In a survey conducted in August 2005 by the renowned and widely read magazine India Today, the state was ranked 3rd in "Education Development and Achievement, at Elementary Level, in India".
Kumaon’s Education Scenario, in particular
Kumaon has been a big contributor to this success as the towns like Almora and Bageshwar boast of a literacy rate of 75% and 72%, respectively. The premier institutes offering quality education in the hills of Kumaon are:
KumaonUniversity, Nainital
Kumaon University, established in 1973 under the UP State Act and headquartered at Nainital, is spread over two campuses, one each in Almora and Nainital and has 30 Colleges that confer degrees and diplomas under its name and seal.
The university has faculties ranging from Arts, Commerce, Education and Law to the latest ones like Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Engineering and Technology alongwith vocational course like Taxation, Tourism, & Functional English.
GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pant Nagar
Established in 1960 under the UP State Act, the half-a-century old University is spread over a 15,000 acre campus. The University has six outstation research centers apart from its main campus in Udham Nagar District. Ranichari, Daurala, Nagina, Majhera, Bullandshehar, and Pauri are the other centers of the prestigious institution.
The university has nine constituent colleges offering study from Undergraduate level right upto Ph.D. level in a range of streams like Agriculture, Agri-Business Management, Humanities, Fishery Sciences, Forestry and Hill Agriculture etc. Apart from the conventional course, it offers Vocational & Correspondence Courses as well. The fact that the university runs 16 non-degree courses in varied areas of interest like religion and culture makes it quite unique. The active participation of students and research scholars from the university in films and TV programmes prepared by its Center for Advanced Studies in Cinema & TV production ensure a bright future for the university.
KumaonEngineeringCollege
KEC is an autonomous institute setup, solely, for the purpose of imparting quality education in the realms of engineering and technology. The institute came into being in the year 1991 in the Almora district. The institute is fully financed by the government of Uttarakhand.
Apart from these three premier institutes, Kumaon has a large network of public schools and colleges which provides quality education to a large number of boys and girls.
The wider picture...
As the region is situated in a maze of high hills and deep valleys, spreading education to every nook and corner is a challenging task. Even today, there are places where kids have to cross rivulets and walk upto 10 miles to reach their school. All these problems are slowly, but surely gaining the attention of the authorities and the situation has improved a lot.
The Kumaonis are very forward-thinking people and, as is evident from the attendance of girls in educational institutions, are not averse to the idea of womenfolk gaining in knowledge. This is a promising sign and is very encouraging. The govt. and NGO’s have initiated many projects to educate people which have been quite successful.
And the cherry on the cake is the fact that Nainital, the region’s headquarters, has the highest literacy rate in the whole of Uttarakhand. This shows that Kumaonis have come a long way forward, but there is still a long way to go as far as the spread of education is concerned.
|
