Over 3000 J&K govt schools have under 10 students: Minister | India News
SRINAGAR: More than 3,000 government schools in Jammu and Kashmir will have zero or less than 10 students by 2022, Education Minister Sakina Itu said in the Assembly on Saturday.Of the 3,192 such schools, 1,494 are in Jammu division and 1,698 in Kashmir, National Conference (NC) Itu BJP MLA RS Pathania said in a written reply to a question.In Jammu, Kathua district has the highest number of 508 schools. In Kashmir, Baramulla district topped the list with 396 schools. Srinagar valley has the least 90 schools, while Poonch Jammu division has 17 schools.The NC government has also revealed major infrastructural deficiencies — 2,698 schools do not have boys’ toilets, 57 do not have girls’ toilets, 9,078 schools do not have boundary walls and 10,896 schools do not have playgrounds.Pathania called the numbers a “big revelation”, arguing the data reflected a lack of public confidence in public schools. “If people are not enrolling their children in these schools then why are they opening,” he said, adding that the schools are being run mainly to accommodate the teaching staff.Naeem Akhtar, PDP’s former J&K education minister, called it a “serious situation” and accused the NC government of reducing education as an employment scheme for some teachers and neglecting the prime responsibility of educating students. “The primary responsibility of the government is human development. This data presents a dismal picture. It is not that there are no students. They are forced to go to private schools due to lack of facilities and poor education system in government schools,” said Akhtar.Baba Nazrul Islam, president of the Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK), agreed that the data reflects a growing preference for private schools due to better infrastructure, accountability and faster decision-making. But he cautioned that the government should not see private schools as competitors but as “partners of knowledge”. “The problem can be solved if the government agrees to cooperate with private schools,” Islam said.
