Infrastructural gaps plague Govt schools in J&K | 5-year plan to provide adequate infrastructure facilities to take off

Srinagar, Dec 2: The government schools in Jammu and Kashmir continue to be marred by persistent infrastructural shortcomings, as the much-vaunted five-year plan to address the issue remains stalled.

Students, particularly in the primary sections, are crammed into overcrowded classrooms, impinging on the quality of education they receive.

Even though the government has closed schools up to class 8th for winter vacations, the infrastructural gaps still exist in the schools throwing up a major challenge for the department to start the new academic session in March amidst the same conditions.

The infrastructural gaps prevailed in the government education sector at a time when the School Education Department (SED) surrendered over 600 surplus school buildings to other government departments.

These buildings, left unused for several years, have failed to alleviate the accommodation crisis faced by school-going children.

A recent national survey revealed a disheartening statistic that 66.4 percent of class 4th students in J&K share a classroom with more than one class, marking a significant increase from 2018’s 52.1 percent.

Additionally, approximately 72 percent of class 2nd primary students find themselves sharing classrooms with one or more classes.

This dire situation persists even as the J&K government declared 2022 and 2023 as the ‘Year of Academic Transformation’.

Despite apparent academic progress, the failure to address infrastructural gaps in schools has been glaring.

An official said that the buildings which the department got in legacy were haphazardly constructed wherein two to three school buildings were constructed in each village which were later not used.

The department has already clubbed various schools which were later declared as officially closed schools to rationalise the utilisation of the school buildings and teaching staff as well.

During the previous years, the department claimed that a five-year plan was formulated under which augmentation of the infrastructure in all the single-room schools would be taken up on priority.

However, the much-hyped plan is yet to be executed while the students continue to suffer.

Earlier, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajiv Rai Batnagar said that the department was aware of the issue and the matter was being looked into.

“There has been a lot of improvement in schools in terms of availability of infrastructure at various places and we are trying to fill the gaps in all schools,” Batnagar said.