As part of the ongoing celebration under the International Year of Cooperatives, Commissioner Secretary, Cooperative Department, Babila Rakwal, on Monday visited the Cooperative Public Secondary School Ltd, Malangam, Bandipora to review functioning of the institution and promote cooperative-based education in rural areas.

During the visit, the Commissioner Secretary interacted with the school management, faculty, students and members of the managing cooperative society. She appreciated the efforts of the institution in delivering quality education through a cooperative model. She emphasized the importance of strengthening educational cooperatives to ensure equitable access to learning opportunities in remote areas.

Babila Rakwal informed that there are currently 15 cooperative educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, and this school at Malangam has been recently established under the Cooperative Department.

“Our foremost focus will be on developing the infrastructure of these cooperative schools, including the provision of desks, establishment of science laboratories, libraries, smart classrooms and computer labs,” she said, while reiterating the department’s commitment towards empowering the rural youth through quality education.

This visit followed her earlier engagement in Gurez, where she emphasized the need to register cooperative societies in niche sectors such as food processing of Zeera, buckwheat, potato, and rural tourism.

On the occasion, the Commissioner Secretary felicitated the students from the institution who had recently excelled in academic examinations. The local community and school stakeholders expressed optimism for continued support to cooperative-led educational initiatives in the region.