By Sadaket Malik

Tucked away from the limelight and hustle-bustle of the city is a town in the la
p of Himalayas called Bhalessa. While nature has blessed the township with abund
ant resources to boast of, the other thing that this little mountain town proudl
y boasts of these days is the booming interest in education and growth in resour
ces facilitating the same.
While years back, there was just a measly primary school, with scarce attendance
and tattered infrastructure to speak of in Bhalessa; today education seems to b
e the buzz word in this seemingly sleepy, calm and laid back town near Jammu. It
seems as though a wave of change and revolution has swept over the area making
it an upcoming education centre, least to say.
With numerous educational institutions supporting elementary to higher as well a
s technical education in the region, Bhalessa has become a major educational ins
titutions centre. Where education was once a rarity today one finds numerous set
-ups are feeding the townâ s hunger for education; thanks to the efforts of the state
and centre in this direction.
The foundation of education in this town was laid by the then Director Education
Ghulam Rasool Azad who was among the first to go to the battered and only prima
ry school the area had in his childhood. Ghulam Rasool Azad rose to fame as he g
rew but never did he forget the townâ s need for better education and schools. He gav
e the area a face-lift with his tremendous efforts and built a strong education
system before he breathed his last.
But Bhalessa could take it from there on. On constant demand of the people of th
is town, the government finally set up a government degree college there. And to
day it is an established education centre with a huge growth in institutions of
higher education. Along with IGNOU, there are several institutions running profe
ssional courses in IT and similar fields in the area. IGNOU had come to Bhalessa
in 2006.
The place has seen a rampant growth in madrasas too over the past few years. The
place boasts of 10 madrasas as of now and whatâ s more, apart from imparting traditi
onal and religious knowledge, these madrasas are very much in sync with the mode
rn education system too.
Under the able guidance of the state government, in addition to the Islamic and
Arabic studies, these madrasas are following the education pattern of government
schools and are no way bound by the shackles of religion alone.
The area is also frequented by NGOs and welfare associations which further the c
ause of enhancing education and its quality in Bhalessa. The major NGOs working
in the area are â Educational, Environmental, Social Sports and Cultural Society Bha
lessa, National Students Welfare Association Bhalessa, Kohistan Association Bhal
essa.
Not only have these NGOs helped hold free education camps in the area, they have
been working hard for the past 10 years by providing vocational training, start
ing summer schools and IGNOU Special study centres too.
However, there are still many schools in the area which lack proper funds, infra
structure and resources like teachers and even a proper building. It is difficul
t for children to study in such schools when its extreme summers and the sun is
scorching, winters have them shivering in the open and worse still, when its rai
ning and their books get drenched.
Efforts are on to better these schools and provide the basic amenities much need
ed for proper education. And while that is being done, noteworthy is the invinci
ble spirit of the students which brings them right back to their temple of knowl
edge, even though itâ s broken and is without a roof.
Maybe for the people of this hill town, education is a critical requirement; one
, which will ensure both, a social as well as economic change in the area. It is
probably for this reason that their hunger for education is insatiable; for it
gives them hope; hope for a better and brighter future.