By M S Nazki
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better……………Afreen an Army Good will school girl!
-The past has no power over the present moment. Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop
-Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty……….Army Goodwill schools teach you the same!
-Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”
-Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each…….. Plato!
-Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it. The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.
Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.
The story which we got went something like this:
Army Goodwill Schools: A legacy of fostering educational excellence across J&K and ladakh! Headquarters Northern Command commemorated ten years of a significant educational partnership between the Army Goodwill Schools (AGS) and the Bharti Airtel Foundation, underscoring the Indian Army’s continued endeavor to provide quality education and create greater opportunities for the youth of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The commemorative event was organised at Army Goodwill Public School, Pahalgam, and was attended by Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma, SYSM, PVSM, AVSM, SM, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Shri Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-Chairman, Bharti Airtel Foundation and Mrs Shinei Sharma, Regional President AWWA, besides senior officials of Indian Army and the Foundation. The decade-long association has witnessed a substantial expansion in its scope and impact. From an initial engagement covering 14 schools, the partnership has contributed!
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-Army Goodwill Schools (AGS) have indeed made a transformative impact across Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Run by the Indian Army under Operation Sadbhavana, this network has expanded to 46 schools supporting over 20,000 students, primarily in remote, border, and underserved regions. The initiative has drawn praise for successfully blending affordable, high-quality schooling with modern learning frameworks. Key milestones and areas of impact include:
-Global and National Recognition World's Best School Prizes:
-In 2026, AGS Wuzur (Anantnag) was shortlisted among the Top 10 schools globally in the Innovation category by T4 Education. The school's student-led Innovation Club developed real-world solutions like a foot-operated water-saving tap and localized digital apps.
-National Competitions: Students from AGS campuses like Wuzur and Uri have consistently placed in the top ranks of the Young Scientist India competition and participated in prestigious platforms like ISRO YUVIKA.
-Modernizing Education & Digital Infrastructure100% Smart Classes: In collaboration with corporate partners like the Bharti Airtel Foundation (marking over 10 years of partnership in 2026), the schools feature fully digital classrooms, AI labs, and robotics education aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
-Holistic Development: Beyond maintaining a 100% pass rate in CBSE exams, the schools are known for nurturing world-class talent, such as grooming international kickboxing champion Tajamul Islam.
-Community & Support Infrastructure Broader Reach: Alongside running their own network, the Indian Army supports approximately 1,900 state government-run schools in remote areas by building playgrounds, libraries, and provisioning computers.
-Inclusive Classrooms: About 43% of the student demographic consists of girls, and the army routinely sponsors the text books, uniforms, and tuition fees for underprivileged children and nomadic communities (like the Gujjars and Bakerwals).
-A brief detail as to what happened:
-Headquarters Northern Command on commemorated ten years of educational partnership between Army Goodwill Schools (AGS) and the Bharti Airtel Foundation, highlighting the Indian Army’s continued efforts to provide quality education and create greater opportunities for the youth of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
-The commemorative event was organised at Army Goodwill Public School, Pahalgam, and was attended by Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma, SYSM, PVSM, AVSM, SM, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command; Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Co-Chairman, Bharti Airtel Foundation; and Mrs Shinei Sharma, Regional President, AWWA, Northern Command, besides senior officials of the Indian Army and the Foundation.
-The decade-long association has witnessed substantial expansion in its scope and impact. From an initial engagement covering 14 schools, the partnership has contributed to educational initiatives across all 43 Army Goodwill Schools in the region.
The initiative has focused on strengthening institutional leadership, classroom practices, academic management and teachers’ capabilities, while promoting technology-enabled learning and implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
A strong emphasis has also been placed on nurturing creativity and scientific temperament among students. AGS Innovation Clubs have enabled more than 160 student-led projects, with students participating in national platforms including ISRO YUVIKA, INSPIRE-MANAK and Young Scientist India.
Addressing the gathering, Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma shared his experience as a student and spoke about how he overcame circumstantial challenges. He exhorted the students to dream higher and remain committed to their dreams. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, in his address, committed continued support to the Army Goodwill Schools for the next decade as well.
-He also announced new initiatives by the Bharti Airtel Foundation, including books for libraries, coaching in sports, additional smart classes, scholarships for higher education and cash incentives for meritorious students of Classes 10 and 12.
-Shinei Sharma, Regional President AWWA, Northern Command, motivated the students and called upon teachers and parents to support and nurture them to meet future challenges in life. She also called upon all sections of society to come forward and focus on educating the girl child in every family, contributing towards building an inclusive society.
-Northern Command remains committed to uplifting the educational ecosystem of Army Goodwill Schools and empowering the next generation through excellence in education, creativity, leadership and all-round development, thereby preparing the youth to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s future.
-Army Goodwill Schools play a vital role in developing Jammu and Kashmir by providing quality, affordable education, modern technological infrastructure, and holistic extracurricular opportunities to children in remote and underserved regions.
-Reaching Remote Areas: Institutions are established in isolated or border areas (like Machil and Kupwara) where standard government or private educational infrastructure is scarce.
- Hostel Facilities: Many schools offer residential and hostel arrangements so students from hilly, distant terrains can attend consistently and focus on academics.
-Nominal Costs: Education and resources are provided at very low, affordable charges to support local families.
-Campuses feature computer laboratories, smart classrooms, robotics clubs, and astronomy labs to keep students competitive on a national level.
-CBSE/NEP Alignment: Programs follow structured national curricula and teacher training frameworks to enhance overall learning standards.
-Growth: Special focus is directed toward marginalized and nomadic communities, such as the Gujjar and Bakerwal groups through dedicated programs.
-Extracurricular Activities: Sports, debates, and cultural events build confidence, teamwork, and leadership qualities among students.
-Bridging Divides: The schools serve as a bridge of trust, helping youth envision professional careers as doctors, engineers, and civil servants.
-Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody. Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire…
Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel. Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. All men and women who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education
-Purpose:
-Army Goodwill Schools in Jammu and Kashmir were formed by the Indian Army starting in 1998 under Project Sadbhavana to provide quality and affordable education to children in remote, rural, and terrorism-affected areas where schooling was disrupted.
-Key Objectives Restoring Education:
-Rebuilding the learning environment after terrorism and violence damaged local school systems.
-Reaching Remote Regions: Bringing schools to isolated border and hill districts with few or no educational facilities.
-Helping Low-Income Families: Offering affordable or free education with scholarships for children from poor financial backgrounds.
-Community Building: Fostering trust, positive social connection, and national integration between the local population and the military.
-Jammu and Kashmir recently achieved a milestone literacy rate of 98.43 percent, reflecting a major shift toward universal education across the Union Territory.
-Current Progress and Milestones High Literacy: The region reached full literacy status under the ULLAS–NBSK initiative, credited to local teachers, volunteers, and administrative efforts. Leaders like Dr Farooq Abdullah hails J&K's 98.43% literacy rate have emphasized that this foundation supports a more progressive society.
-Policy Integration: The implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has expanded pre-primary schooling and mapped middle schools with vocational labs.
-Remaining Challenges Dropout Rates: A parliamentary panel noted a secondary school dropout rate of 12.6 percent, with enrollment dropping significantly at higher secondary levels. Experts discuss these concerns deeply in Kashmir's education reckoning.
-High-quality Education:
-Army Goodwill Schools (AGS) provide high-quality, affordable education and modern learning infrastructure to over 18,000 students across remote and underserved regions of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.
-Key Aspects of Army Goodwill Schools Origin & Reach: Established under Operation Sadbhavana by the Indian Army in the late 1990s, the network has grown to include around 43 to 45 schools, employing nearly 1,000 staff members with a strong focus on empowering female students.
-Modern Curriculum: The schools align with National Education Policy (NEP) standards, integrating smart classrooms, computer labs, and futuristic skills like artificial intelligence, robotics, and design thinking. Affiliations include both CBSE and the Jammu & Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE).
-Extracurricular & Academic Success: Students regularly excel in state and national competitions, such as Young Scientist India, sports championships, and innovation challenges. Programs also facilitate national exposure tours and visits to premier institutions like IITs and research laboratories.
-About Nharti Airtel:
-Bharti Airtel is an Indian multinational telecommunications company, headquartered in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and the Channel Islands. In India, the company provides mobile telephony services using 5G, 4G, and LTE Advanced technologies, along with fixed-line broadband and voice services, while the range of services varies by country of operation.
-Airtel is the second-largest mobile network operator in India and second largest mobile network operator in the world. It has also deployed Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology across telecom circles in India to support voice calls over 4G networks.
-History
In 1984, Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India, which he earlier used to import from a Singaporean company, Singtel, replacing the old-fashioned, bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie-up with Siemens AG of Germany for the manufacture of electronic push-button phones. By the early 1990s, Bharti was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. He named his first push-button Telephone as 'Mitbrau'.
-In 1992, he successfully bid for one of the four mobile phone network licenses auctioned in India. One of the conditions for the Delhi cellular licenses was that the bidder have some experience as a telecom operator.
-So, Mittal clinched a deal with the French telecom group Vivendi. He was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area. His plans were finally approved by the Government in 1994 and he launched services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel.
-Within a few years, Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2 million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under the brand name 'India one'.
-In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice Cell in Kolkata. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular phone operations were re-branded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and Nicobar. This expansion allowed it to offer voice services all across India.
-In July 2004, Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a caller ring back tone service (Ringing Tone), becoming the first operator in India to do so. The Airtel theme song was composed by A. R. Rahman.
-In 2009, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network infrastructure for the fixed-line business. Later, Bharti Airtel awarded the three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access network across the country. This would help consumers access internet at faster-speed and high-quality internet browsing on mobile handsets.
-In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In June 2010, Bharti acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion, making it the largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Walmart, the US retail giant, to start a number of retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti planned to acquire Loop Mobile for ₹7 billion (US$73 million), but the deal was called off later.
-On 18 November 2010, Airtel rebranded itself in India in the first phase of a global rebranding strategy. The company unveiled a new logo with 'airtel' written in lower case. Designed by London-based brand agency, Superunion, the new logo is the letter 'a' in lowercase, with 'airtel' written in lowercase under the logo. On 23 November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations were rebranded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010, Warid Telecom rebranded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.
-In May 2024, Bharti Airtel announced a collaboration with Google Cloud to support cloud adoption and the development of generative AI solutions for businesses in India.
In July 2024, Bharti Airtel and Nokia successfully completed India's first non‑standalone (NSA) 5G Cloud‑RAN trial. The trial, conducted over the air using commercial spectrum in the 3.5 GHz (5G) and 2.1 GHz (4G) bands, achieved data throughput of over 1.2 Gbit/s.
In December 2024, Bharti Airtel signed a “multi‑billion” dollar deal with Ericsson to deploy centralized and Open‑RAN‑ready solutions and upgrade 4G/5G radios, aiming to improve network speed, coverage, and reliability.
In March 2025, Bharti Airtel entered into a strategic agreement with SpaceX's Starlink to explore the introduction of satellite-based internet services in India, leveraging Airtel's existing retail and enterprise distribution channels. The collaboration remains subject to regulatory approvals from Indian authorities!
The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead. I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years. The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. He who opens a school door, closes a prison
