Despite School’s Closure Claim of Govt; 119 Schools runs with Zero Enrollment, 238 Teachers still posted

Despite School's Closure Claim of Govt; 119 Schools runs with Zero Enrollment, 238 Teachers still posted Image: Representative

Dil Bar Irshad | January 22, 2025 | 06:35 PM IST | Breaking News, Educational News, Featured by VoM, Jammu Kashmir | Tags: Jammu Kashmir news, Jammu Kashmir schools | Follow on Google News

119 Schools in J-K runs with Zero Enrollment; 238 Teachers still Posted

The concern is mounting on Jammu Kashmir Education Department, after the operation of 119 schools without students has been reported in media reports. Questions are being raised on Jammu Kashmir’s education system, and governance.

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As the reports indicate, that in Jammu Kashmir, nearly 119 schools are being in operation without any students enrollment, and the strange figure which pulls the buttle outs, is that 238 teachers are posted or deployed in these educational institutions.

These claim nullify & raises serious concerns on the government’s claim of closing the thousands of government schools due to zero or low student enrollment.

The data further indicates that Jammu Kashmir faces a Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) of 1.16, which is yet below the prescribed norm of 1:30. Keeping in consideration the rule of, on average, seven government teachers are posted in government schools, regardless of any enrollment numbers, several schools in Jammu Kashmir also faces a heavy shortage of teaching staff, raising million-dollar question on current administration in Union Territory of Jammu Kashmir.

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In year-2024, as per authorities, over 4,400 government-run schools were closed due to low or zero student enrollment.

By July 2024, after the closure of government run schools has dropped to 23,117, as 4,394 schools were removed from the Unified District Information (UDISE) System.

In April 2022, the department has announced the plan to merge 720 schools, based student catchment areas and feasibility.

The graph of primary schools, majorily affected also dropped by 30 per cent. Now after the merger, 8,966 schools are functional, off earlier 12,977 schools. In addition to this, 392 schools, 3 high schools, and a one higher secondary school were removed from the UDISE Plus list.

Nearly, 24,279 private schools are functional, which earlier was 28,805 schools. Nearly, 5,555 private schools still operational out of an earlier total of 5,688 schools.

Dil Bar Irshad

Dil Bar Irshad is a seasoned journalist, hails from Jammu Kashmir's Doda, covers political, social, business stories, index stories.