SRINAGAR: With improvement in the ground situation and a drop in militancy violence in Kashmir, the Arya Samaj Trust reopened its school in the Mahargunj area of sensitive downtown Srinagar after 33 years. The Dayanand Arya Vidyalaya (DAV) school has started functioning from a building in the Saraf Kadal area of Maharajgunj in downtown Srinagar.
Principal of the school, Samina Javed, who hails from Lucknow of Uttar Pradesh, said that before the eruption of militancy in J&K in 1990, Arya Samaj was running many schools in the Valley. “However, after the outbreak of militancy only two schools (DAV Rainawari and DAVP Wazirbagh) remained functional while the rest were closed,” Javed said.
“We have reopened this DAV school after a gap of 33 years. The Arya Samaj school was functioning here in 1990 and we have started the school in the same building,” she said.
The renovation of the school building is underway and around 35 students have been enrolled to the school up to Class 7. “The school is providing education to the wards of underprivileged and needy families, who live in the locality,” the principal said.
The school, she added, is charging a nominal fee from the students. “We have not followed the DAV school fee structure in this school.”
“Our aim is to provide quality education to the students. We will try to ensure the overall development of these students to make them good citizens,” she said.
The school has seven teachers and all are locals.
“Our teachers are working very hard. We are confident that by providing quality education to students, the enrollment of students in the school will also increase,” she added.