Opinion  | Jammu & Kashmir Education System – Challenges and Way forward for Improvement

Education is the main instrument for the development and prosperity of any nation. It is the process through which the society deliberately transmits its culture, knowledge, values and skills from one generation to other generation. Education plays a key role in the process of social mobility of an individual. Many sociological studies have shown that education is a powerful factor in bringing about change in society. Education has contributed to the destiny of the societies in each and every area of development. However The education system in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be improved more and more as The education system in J&K is not progressing at a pace when compared to other Indian states. Against the national literacy rate of 74.04% Jammu and Kashmir has a literacy figure of 68.74 percent.

In the national educational scenario, J&K is subsumed as educationally backward with reference to the established indices namely, literacy rate,
teacher-pupil ratio, drop-out rate and the absorption pattern
of the educated persons. The Government of India has identified 374 districts as educationally backward out of which 11 districts are in Jammu and Kashmir. In a survey
conducted by Annual status of Education report (ASER).
It was revealed that there was a decline in enrolment of 3.8 percent among all male students up to 10th standard. As per the (ASER) report 2020- 21 “in academic year a total of 64.7 percent females were enrolled in government schools up to class 9th and above while in 2020 only 61.3 percent female students were enrolled”. The government has taken many initiatives to improve the quality of education and to increase the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir.

The following schemes have been implemented to enhance the quality of education and increase the accessibility of the
students:

1. Mid-day Meal
2. Shagun Shiksha
3. Sarva Siksha
4. Inclusive education of the Disabled at secondary stage
(IEDSS).
5. DIKSHA
5. Scheme for providing Quality Education at Primary School Level.
6. Aspirational District Program for Improving the quality of Education

*- Problems and Challenges of Education in Jammu and Kashmir.*

Jammu and Kashmir is facing so many challenges and hurdles in education system. Some of the major problems
are discussed below

1. Poor infrastructure in educational institutions especially the institutions run by the public sector suffer from poor physical facilities and infrastructure like unavailability of clean drinking water, lack of toilet facilities for
students, inadequate classrooms etc some of the major problems in the education system of UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

2. Lack of trained and subject specific teachers in schools especially at the primary level.

3. Teachers in educational institutes give more emphasis on rote learning and less emphasis on critical thinking.

4. Education system in Jammu and Kashmir is information based rather than knowledge based. Instead of understanding and analyzing the content the students
focus on cramming it.

5. Educational institutions receive inadequate government
funding. Insufficient amount is available for innovative ideas and programs.

6.There are limited facilities of technology and other resources as well as insufficient numbers of quality teachers for Primary and Middle Classes.

9. Other problems and issues are student drop-out ratio, student-teacher ratio, disparities between girls and boys and low enrolment at the primary level.

– Suggestions for improving Education system in Jammu
and Kashmir.

1. To build a high quality education system, adequate funding must be made available by the Government to improve quality and make education affordable to all.
2. Appropriate pupil teacher ratio should be maintained for the smooth functioning of the teaching learning process.

3. Quality knowledge should be imparted to the students & Students should be encouraged to go for research
activities.
4. The government should start skill based vocational courses
in all educational institutions.
5. Curriculum of all courses offered at various levels should be revised and updated to make it competitive
and engaging and make the students confident, selfdependent and skillful.
6. Special training programmes should be organized for teachers in order to keep them updated with recent
happenings.
7. Separate technical and research colleges should be established for girls in order to increase their
participation in education.
8. The utilisation of funds for rural development schemes in the state should be increased.
9. Infrastructure should be expanded and well developed for the betterment of education.
10. Parents of the students should actively participate in the
learning the process of their children. They should be encouraged to take part in the activities organized by the educational institutions.
11. Educational institutions should focus on learning oriented teaching rather than syllabus oriented
teaching.
12. The government should provide sufficient staff in schools and colleges & the teachers in Jammu and Kashmir should be imparted training for using innovative teaching methods.
13. The schools and colleges should use sound evaluation
schemes like continuous and comprehensive evaluation and provide rich and healthy education in educational institutions.
14. The teachers should be imparted specialized training and guidance for adopting new teaching methods.

Conclusion

In order to successfully meet the future challenges in education, the government must give prime importance to the education sector and provide as many facilities as soon as possible. Moreover, the only way the quality of learning outcomes can be enhanced substantially is to go for long-term planning and efforts.The Government of Jammu and Kashmir needs to work far more on building its education infrastructure and the heavy investments are required in building modern schools in remote towns and villages. The concept of ‘smart class’ needs to be promoted widely. And we need to evaluate and explore some fundamental shifts from the design to delivery to outcomes to success for the learner and the every stakeholder like government, academia, civil society members, senior citizens and most importantly parents, teachers and students have to come together not only to ensure better health and mental fitness but also should work together like a team for the superior levels of learning objectives and to make our future more bright and shining.

The author is a columnist & Teacher by profession. Can be reached @eqbalkhan572@gmail.com