"After visiting Delhi University I have clarity on what I want to pursue after Class 12. Earlier, I did not know what I would do after completing school,” said Nizma Bhat, a Class 11 student from Nawakadal Higher Secondary School, Srinagar. Bhat now hopes to study Psychology in DU. She is part of a 500-strong team of students from Kashmir, who are in the national Capital as part of the Jammu and Kashmir Student Exchange Programme. Most of them are visiting Delhi for the first time.

Under the exchange programme, students from Delhi and J&K have been paired and this pairing would continue till June, when students from the Capital would visit the Valley. “The labs here are better, so we want similar labs to be set up in our schools in Kashmir," said Ajmal Imtiyaz, a class 11 student from Pulwama. Delhi is a stunning place, he said.

The programme comprises students from classes IX and XI from the districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla and Kupwara. In the days to come, a total of 10,000 students from the Valley would be visiting other parts too.

The objective of the initiative of the Department of School Education and Literacy (MHRD) in collaboration with the J&K government, is to provide the students a platform for the exchange of ideas with students from other parts of the country. As part of the programme, the students were taken for a movie, a music show and a ride in the metro, besides the visit to Delhi University. They also attended the Republic Day parade on Friday.

“This is an exposure visit as the students come from the border areas of J&K. They have seen the facilities available to the students here and how different it is from facilities in their state. As part of the programme, the students were given career counselling sessions, which not only cleared the doubts of the students but also widened their horizon,” said A.H. Rafiqi, Nodal Officer, Student Exchange Programme. He added that this was the first time the students had watched a movie in a cinema hall.

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