Plight of Government Schooi s in Jammu and Kashmir

By – Ch. Ehtisham Ul Haq
Government schools were sidelined, and private schools gained prominence in Jammu and Kashmir from the 1990s onwards.
In this article, we will be discussing some of the reasons for the decline of government schools in Jammu and Kashmir
Reasons for the decline:
1. Mushrooming of private schools
2. Socio-economic gap between the rich and the poor
3. The no-detention policy
4. Infrastructural and Planning flaws
5. Political and Bureaucratic neglect

Mushrooming of private schools
More and more private schools are being established becausethey see a high chance of successdue to the perception of the general public about private schools. The reason for the rapid growth of private schools is that the schools are getting permission from the government authorities despite failing to meet the minimum requirements that the government has laid to establish a private school.The shifting of children from Government to private schools is because some of the elite private schools provide significantly better educational standards. That is why a perception has been imprinted on the minds of the people that all the private schools are of that kind and better than the government schools. Because of this reason, parents are shifting their children toprivate schools.Not all parents are shifting their children to private schools — only those who can afford to.The people who can’t afford the fees of private schools or are below the poverty line are sending their children to government schools. So,parents of government school studentsare oftennot well off financially. Hence, they are not well or not at all educated and so they do not value education the most. The reason why they send their children to government schools is 80% of the timebecause the government gives scholarships to the children and hence, it is viewed as an indirect and secondary source of income and the midday meal scheme gives children a meal. This eliminates the responsibility of providing at least one meal for the children. So, the government schools in Jammu and Kashmir have indirectly just become a convenience for the poor people. This is mostly happening in rural and village areas where there is a lack of almost everything. The plight of the government schools in cities is a bit better. Hence in the rural and remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir, education is not the main purpose on the ground, but on paper it is.

Socio-economic gap
The environment in which children learn affects a lot. All the children of the middle class or upper class have been shifted to private schools. The children of the poor are left behind in government schools who are not from the educational background. In a classroom,if there are 40 students, if 10 students are hardworking, the rest 25 will also try to catch up with them, and will also start doing hard work and eventually succeed. Only those five non-hardworking students will fail. Now that almost every intelligent child is studying in private schools, the remaining ones are in government schools. So, if there will be no competition amongst peers, then how will they succeed? The teachers are also not taking aninterest in teaching in government schools becauseno one is interested in studying either. If there are one or two students interested, they will also suffer because 38 students are not interested, and because of that teachers also lose interest. So eventually those two hard-working children will suffer a lot.
The No-Detention Policy
The no-detention policy of 2010 aimed at eliminating the practice of detaining students up to class 8th and promoting continuous learning without the pressure of failing despite their academic progress. This policy continued until 2020 when NEP 2020 made a policy to detain children in classes5thand8th(https://www.thehindu.com/education/why-was-the-no-detention-policy-rolled-back-explained/article69062468.ece). This policy took the fear of failing from students and ingovernment schools children were already weak in studies. This policy further weakened the children.

Infrastructural and Planning flaws
NEP 2020 aims to foster digital and comprehensive learning by integrating technology into education, enhancing accessibility, and ensuring a more inclusive and personalized learning experience for students.(https://www.education.gov.in/shikshakparv/docs/NEP_2020_CIET_Behera.pdf). However, digital learning can’t be achieved under the conditions the government schools are in, in Jammu and Kashmir. Digital Learning needs a digital environment, tools, and gadgets. But, there are not even sufficient classrooms for the different grades. In rural Jammu and Kashmir. 2 to 3 classes are being taken in a single classroom. There are not even proper desks, students often sit on mats on the floor. During harsh weather conditions, students and teachers are distracted because, in some rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir,even electricity is not available. Reports suggest that 6,067 government schools lack electricity as of 2023(https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/10k-govt-school-still-lack-playground-6k-without-electricity-in-jk/). 8,475 government schools lack functional toilets, and there is a lack of connectivity of water in rural government schools, 4,745 government schools lack access to clean drinking water. 5,540 government schools operate without libraries. 9,169 schools don’t have proper playgrounds(https://risingkashmir.com/over-4700-jk-schools-without-clean-drinking-water/#:~:text=Srinagar%2C%20Mar%2025:%20Out%20of%2018%2C724%20government,have%20proper%20playgrounds%2C%20authorities%20on%20Tuesday%20said.).Many schools in Jammu and Kashmir are made without proper planning. Government schools are sometimes made in areas where there is no actual need and they are made without planning and are made with just 2 to 3 classrooms. These schools are often very small. These schools are made just to show that the government is progressing on paper, but, it has no practical usage. Hence, there are major infrastructural and planning flaws.

Political and Bureaucratic Neglect
In 2024, it was reported that 4,394 out of 23,117 government schools were removed from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) due to closure or lack of functionality, highlighting a regression in accessibility and availability of education(https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/4-400-govt-schools-in-jammu-and-kashmir-closed-due-to-low-enrollment-124071100364_1.html).
These all issues reflect the political and bureaucratic inefficiency in resource allocation for the betterment of our education system more specifically, the lower government education system.
Conclusion
These issues are becoming a hurdle to implementing education policies such as NEP 2020 and the plight of the government schools is getting bad to worse. Keeping in view the conditions of the government schools in Jammu and Kashmir, the aim of digital learning is not possible in Jammu and Kashmir as of now. First of all, the privatization of schools should be checked and strict rules should be made for establishingprivate schools,the government should improve the quality of education provided in government schools, instead of permitting the establishment of private schools. The socio-economic gap between the students should be filled. The infrastructural gap should also be filled for a safe and non-distracting environment. After all these issues are resolved, the government should work on providing a digital learning environment. It should be made mandatory for the children of politicians andgovernment employees to study in government schools. This would wipe out the political and bureaucratic neglect towards the government schools because their children would be studying in the government schools.
Unless the government urgently improves infrastructureand planning, government schools in rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir will continue to suffer, widening the education gap.

 

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