Children should be in schools not on streets: Mehbooba Mufti

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that children should be in schools and not on the streets, alluding to stone pelting youths in the valley.

Urging the youth in Kashmir to focus on studies, Mehbooba said the rightful place for the children is in the educational institutions like Indian Institute of Technologies, Indian Institute of Managements, engineering, medical, dental colleges and not on the streets.

"The youth in Kashmir should return to the educational institutions and concentrate on their studies instead of being on the streets or sitting idle at their homes," she said, addressing a function organised in connection with the inauguration of the new block of a dental college in Jammu.

"All religions consider education as the most important and we should seek education as a religious duty to realize the goals of life. Our children look good with books in their hands in the classrooms studying to be doctors, engineers and architects of our future rather than being on the streets," she said.

Asserting that education holds the key to emancipation and empowerment of any society, Mehbooba laid emphasis on the importance of providing quality education to the youth with greater focus on skill development to enhance their proficiency.

She said the pursuit of education should not be merely for the purpose of acquiring employment and that it should serve the larger purpose of transforming the character of an individual by making him or her aware of their surroundings.