“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”
– Nelson Mandela
These lines by Mr Nelson Mandela are apt, if we see the contribution of the Army Goodwill School, Hajinar in the Karnah Valley in the last two decades. Karnah has traditionally been a hub of education and it’s because of this virtue that this remote region has been able to remain insusceptible to terrorism, which thrived in the entire UT of Jammu and Kashmir during the decades of nineties and the early 2000. However, the happenings in the rest of the state had its impact in Karnah as well and the last three decades have created a lot of distress and agony for the local people at times, due to the impact of the ceasefire violations by the adversary and recently with the introduction of Narco Terrorism in the area. The cease fire violations did the physical damage and led to the destruction of the infrastructure and took Karnah more than 30 years back in terms of development. The Narco Terrorism is also an attempt to destroy the youth of the area by making them drug addicts and prone to subversion for financial gains.
The Army Goodwill School, Hajinar came into being in the year 1999 when the Indian Army based on the request of the local populace took over the erstwhile “Islamia Public Model School” which ceased to exist due to the reducing number of students and lack of basic resources to run the school. The school started with the primary section having only 56 students and six teachers. However all stake holders made a firm resolve to ensure holistic development of the students and the aim of being the best educational institute in the Karnah Valley. The initial journey was full of ups and down. At times the limited resources precluded the expansion and sometimes the hesitation of the people towards modern system of education thwarted the progress. However, as the saying goes “When the actions are based on good intentions our souls have no regrets”, over a period of time the school developed both in terms of the education standards as well as the infrastructure development. The school upgraded to class 8th in the year 2004, class 10thin the year 2009 and to class 12th in the year 2020.
At present Army Goodwill School, Hajinar boasts of having the largest number of students amongst all Good Will Schools having 607 students and a teaching staff of 22 and non-teaching staff of 15. A lot of credit for the expansion of the school goes to the initiative and impetus provided through “Operation Sadbhavana”, which gave a life line to the school with much required funds from time to time and enabled the school to tide over during the most difficult times. Today the school has an exceptional track record of 100 percentage result in class 10th and 12th since inception. The alumni of the school are serving in different fields like Medicine, Armed Forces, Engineering as well as State Administrative Services. The school has the best of the facilities to include smart interactive classes in 11 classrooms, separate science laboratories for physics, chemistry and biology, fully equipped computer laboratory with internet connectivity, well stocked library to name a few. The school has a long list of achievements in all fields and is a reflection of the tireless efforts put in by the teaching and the non-teaching staff of the school from the forefront and the consistent support of the men in uniform.
The contribution of the school in improving the educational standards is only one part of the story. Another indirect contribution of the Goodwill School is the positive impact it has been able to make in the overall wellbeing of the populace. The sponsorship provided to students belonging to families below poverty line has been a boon to such families who would otherwise be deprived of ensuring quality education to their children and thus they are forever indebted to the nation. The exposure which students received by participating in state and national level competitions led to increase in the level of awareness of the parents too, thereby opening a new horizon of aspirations and dreams. Another impact of the school has been the increased awareness of the populace towards girl education. The percentage of girl students increased from 12 % in 2003 to 35.60 % in 2023. As it is said that, “An educated girl will stay healthy, save money, build a business, empower her Community and lift the Country”, the girls in Karnah Valley are a testimony to this saying and have reaped the benefits of quality education for the last two decades.
The school has also been instrumental in the fight against Drug Abuse by sensitising the students, parents and the society towards the ill effects of the menace. The teachers and the non-teaching staff of the school are all from the Karnah Valley and they also have been exposed to the development happening in the field of education in the country by means of different programmes, workshops and awareness campaigns. These teachers and the supporting staff, being resident of the Karnah Valley are able to mould the opinions of the people from the conventional skepticism to having faith and belief in the system. A lot of miles have been covered but the road is endless. The future seems bright and so are the expectations of the people of the Karnah Valley from the Army Goodwill School. The goodwill which has spread due to the efforts of the Army and the progress which the School has achieved in the last two decades, reaffirms the faith that, the Karnah Valley is on the path of achieving greater peace, prosperity and will play a key role towards Nation Building
