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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chaz Lanier scored 18 and No. 7 Tennessee extended its season-opening winning streak to seven games with a 78-35 victory over UT Martin on Wednesday. Felix Okpara had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Volunteers (7-0). Zakai Zeigler added 11 points and nine assists, and Igor Milicic had 13 rebounds and nine points. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
CHANTILLY, Va., Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parsons Corporation PSN announced today that Carey Smith, chair, president, and chief executive officer, and Matt Ofilos, chief financial officer, will participate in fireside chat question and answer sessions at the following investor conferences: Goldman Sachs Industrials and Materials Conference on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at approximately 1:20 p.m. Eastern Time UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at approximately 9:40 a.m. Eastern Time These presentations will be available live via webcast on the investor relations section of Parsons' website ( https://investors.parsons.com/ ). A replay of the webcasts also will be available on the website for 30 days. About Parsons Corporation Parsons PSN is a leading disruptive technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cyber and intelligence, space and missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, urban development, and critical infrastructure protection. Please visit Parsons.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact. Contacts: Media Investor Relations Bryce McDevitt Dave Spille Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation +1 703.851.4425 +1 703.775.6191 Bryce.McDevitt@parsons.com Dave.Spille@Parsons.us © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
“Jammu’s small ‘Malik community’ began moving to Kashmir Valley 15 years ago but few of their school-going wards had to abandon their dreams of education. The government now assures a solution.” Saliq Manzoor & Tashir Khan Ganderbal: Shazia, eight-year-old girl, rattles off the alphabets to a set rhythm with great aplomb, punctuating her syllables with a broad smile as if giving a star performance. Her achievement: she finally made it to nursery school this year. That makes her stand apart in the shabby tented settlement in Wayil, Ganderbal, where she dwells with her family and scores of others. Of the 25 children in the settlement, she’s the only one who has never gone to school. Every summer, as temperatures soar in Jammu, these families, originally from Jammu, pack their belongings and journey to Kashmir, seeking refuge in its cooler climate and pursuing better opportunities. Living in makeshift settlements, they toil tirelessly as labourers, or in other low-income occupations to make ends meet. However, this transient lifestyle creates an educational void for their children, characterised by uncertainty and often a complete lack of schooling threatening to trap them in a generational cycle of poverty and illiteracy. Shazia’s mother Haseena Begum, a resident of Nagrota Bypass in Jammu, has been making this journey for years with her family. “When the temperature soars in Jammu, we migrate to Kashmir in search of a better life,” she explains. But life in Kashmir offers little relief. What now provides her solace is the chirping voice of her daughter. She looks on dotingly as Shazia announces with a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye, “I went to school this year, I’m happy that I got admitted to the school. I had a keen interest in studying.” 24 other children in the same settlement continue to be deprived of formal education due to financial and logistical hurdles. Relenting to her daughter’s persistent demands was not easy as there was never enough money to afford schooling, Haseena reveals. “I manage with great difficulty now,” she says but is sore that there is no support from the government. “They come to us during elections asking for votes, but after that, they forget about us,” she says with a tinge of bitterness and pleads, “We want our government to help us so our children can get a better education and life.” For Imran Malik, father of three, the challenge of sending children to school is impossible. “We live on daily wages, earning 300 to 400 rupees a day, and have to prioritize food and survival,” he says. Theoretically free and even public schools are inaccessible. “The nearest school is three kilometres away, and the timing, from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. clashes with our work. We tried pooling money to hire a vehicle, but our income was unstable. Some days we can afford it, and some days we can’t,” he says. Parents are worried about safety, which stops them from sending their children to school. Imran explains, “The route to the school runs along the national highway, and there are stray dogs. We can’t let our children go alone.” The settlement consists of approximately 40 tents, housing around 150 adults and 25 children. Speaking a mix of Dogri and Urdu, they identify themselves as the Malik community. Other members of the community shift from Jammu to different districts of Kashmir, including Srinagar and Baramulla, during the summer months, one of them said. Hailing from Nagrota in the suburbs of Jammu city, their semi-migratory style is not rooted in tradition but is new, triggered by economic hardships. Community members explain that the move to Kashmir is driven by the search for better work opportunities and relief from the extreme heat in Jammu during the summer months. The shift is necessitated by the pressing need for survival and livelihood over the past 15 years, as work availability and conditions in Jammu have reportedly worsened, they say. They say, “The extreme summer heat in Jammu drives them to seek relief in the cooler climate of Kashmir, besides economic hardship.” They come to Kashmir in search of work, as many families struggle to sustain themselves financially in Jammu. The seasonal nature of migration adds another layer of complexity. Mohd Rafeeq, who has been traveling to Kashmir for over 15 years, explains the difficulty. “If our children study in Jammu for six months, we can enroll them in school. However, when we migrate to Kashmir for the next six months, they struggle to adjust and keep up with their studies, which causes them to lag in their education.” Among all the families in Rafeeq’s settlement, only one man has managed to reach the 10th grade. “We’re illiterate, and it feels like our children are destined to follow the same path,” he said. “We live from day to day, earning in the morning and eating at night.” Before adopting their migratory lifestyle 15 years ago, many families in the community reported that their children were enrolled in schools in Jammu. However, as they began moving to Kashmir seasonally, their migratory lifestyle created significant challenges. If some of the children were earlier going to school, they dropped out. Families found it difficult to re-enroll their children in new schools every six months due to lack of resources, and language or cultural barriers. Moreover, their economic hardships and irregular income meant that education often became a lesser priority than meeting basic needs like food and clothing. Parents also cited logistical challenges, such as the absence of nearby schools in the areas where they settled temporarily, compounded by concerns over safety and the lack of transportation. Imran Malik suggests making schooling accessible for their children on the pattern of mobile schools for nomadic tribes. “If the government could arrange buses or mobile teachers, as they do for the Gujjar-Bakarwals community, it would make a significant difference,” he says. Rafeeq echoes the idea of breaking this present impasse. “We request the government to introduce policies or provide mobile teachers to support our children’s learning during this migration,” he says. Shah Fayaz, Chairman of the JK Teachers Association, acknowledges the glaring gaps in the system. “We’ve spent so much money to make education accessible, yet this community has been neglected. Shockingly, they’ve been right in front of us, and as a society, we haven’t reached out to them,” he says. Fayaz emphasizes the need for immediate action. “We should set up temporary schools for the community and assign one or two teachers to each location. At the very least, the government should hold surveys to collect data and identify safe and accessible nearby schools. This is a critical issue, and needs to be addressed.” Bilal Wani, a social activist, emphasizes the constitutional guarantee of education for all. “Under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution, every child has the right to free and compulsory education. It doesn’t matter if they’re from Jammu, Kashmir, or anywhere else – they are citizens of India and entitled to this right,” he explains. Wani highlights the irony of the situation: “We promote slogans like ‘Stop Child Labour,’ but if these children cannot attend school, how can we expect any change? Mobile schools or temporary teachers could be potential solutions. These children need education to create a better future – not just for themselves, but also their families.” As the migrants prepare to leave Kashmir for the winter, the unresolved issue of their children’s education remains a looming concern. These families have little hope of breaking the cycle of poverty without systemic support. With no structured activities available, the children often loiter around the slums or spend their time idly. While there are suggestions that some might occasionally assist their families in selling small items or working on odd jobs. Recently, a delegation of the government visited the settlement, prompted by a recent media report highlighting their plight, and assured the community that their basic needs would be met. On November 20, a delegation comprising the Assistant Labour Commissioner Hafsa Qayoom, the Chief Education Officer Surjeet Kumar Sharma, and representatives from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) visited the settlement. While addressing the community, Hafsa Qayoom said, “You just need to worry about your children. You don’t have to pay fees; they get free uniforms and mid-day meals. So why are you keeping them here instead of ensuring they are educated?” Qayoom told media persons that the Labour Department was conducting regular drives to ensure children are enrolled in schools but this community was not on their radar. “After the winter break, the children will be moved to a nearby school. Departments like Education, Social Welfare, DLSA, and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) are working together to resolve these issues,” she said and appealed to the citizens to report similar cases with pictures or details. The team mentioned that records of the education department showed that the children were enrolled in a nearby school but the attendance was inconsistent. The Chairperson of the Welfare Committee, Ganderbal, said that the primary issue is the lack of transport facilities. “These children are not school dropouts, but their irregular attendance stems from logistical problems,” she said, assuring that it would be sorted out either by arranging special transport or by creating on-site schooling facilities. These assurances offer some relief. As Imran Malik said, beamingly, “Now they will take responsibility for transporting our children back and forth from school.” For another person in the settlement, this may be a small but meaningful change that will transform our lives. —– Shaziya, the only girl in her community attending school, holds onto her dreams. The settlement in Wayil Ganderbal where the migrant labourers from Jammu are putting up Other children in the campModernizing Accounting for Startups: How Gregory Gevorkyan Is Leading Innovation with Modernbanc
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