24% schools established under erstwhile SSA scheme closed in J&K so far

Srinagar, Jan 20: Launched with much fanfare, the erstwhile centrally sponsored scheme - Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has met a bitter fate in Jammu and Kashmir as 24 per cent of the schools established under the flagship programme faced closure due to zero or less enrollment of the students.

The flagship programme was launched with a vision to provide free and compulsory education to children between 6 and 14 years of age.

The scheme was executed in Jammu and Kashmir in early 2000s and hundreds of the schools were established in far off areas of the J&K to ensure access to education for the children.

However, the haphazard execution of the scheme has resulted in the closure of 24 percent of the schools established under the scheme.

As per the official figures, since the inception of the scheme, as many as 18021 schools-- primary 10690 and upper primary schools- 7331 were established under the scheme.

The establishment of the schools under the erstwhile SSA scheme increased the number of government run schools to 23117.

"The figure remained static till 2023 despite clubbing of around 2400 schools under the process of rationalisation in 2015 and 2016. The schools were clubbed for having zero or meager enrollment but were reflected as independent schools on UDISE portal," an official said.

However, in 2023, the government decided to officially merge the clubbed schools and were subsequently removed from UDISE as well.

With the official closure of these clubbed schools, the number of schools was decreased to 18724 as 4393 schools were officially closed by the government. This figure comprises around 24 percent of the schools closed by the government till date.

Besides opening of 18021 schools under SSA, as many as 526 middle schools were upgraded to the level of high schools while 110 government high schools were upgraded to the level of higher secondary schools under the erstwhile RMSA scheme. "None of the high and higher secondary schools upgraded under RMSA scheme got closed till date," the official said.

Amid the closure of 24 percent schools established under SSA, the experts say that the establishment of these schools only served the purpose of giving employment to the youth while the purpose of providing education was not met owing to the poor response of the students.

"The SSA scheme faced a basic problem in its execution as the schools were opened haphazardly without considering the parameters. The schools were established in places where there was no such requirement with the result, the schools could not maintain encouraging enrollment and were closed by the government," said a former officer of the School Education Department (SED) who has served in the directorate of erstwhile SSA.

"Such schools only provided employment to the youth while the purpose of giving access to education to children was not met. After the closure of the schools, the teachers were adjusted in other schools," he said.

An official said the schools were opened in such a way that the deserving areas were still unserved with basic facilities of education.

"When the schools were clubbed, the government left many areas unserved and in contemporary times there are some areas which do not have basic facilities of education. Despite opening over 18000 schools and later shutting down 4393 schools, we have some areas without basic facilities in terms of a school. This happened because of the haphazard execution of SSA scheme in J&K," an official told Greater Kashmir.