Though there is nothing new in debating the growth of private education system in Jammu & Kashmir but what matters the most is the rising cost of education in private sector across Jammu & Kashmir particularly Kashmir valley . What matters the most is the unprecedented delay in the participation of private players in higher education. Though there is little scope to dispute the claims of the stake holders of private education system that better education is imparted in private schools and not government schools but private players not showing interest for investment in higher education is an issue which deserves attention of the government for the purposes of making whole private education system vibrant . Though it should have attracted the attention and intervention of the Jammu & Kashmir Government long back but the previous popular governments reduced the participation of private players in higher education to investment in launch of private B Ed Colleges. After drastic changes in private higher education system in several states and union territories of the country the private B Ed Colleges have virtually come on a collapsing mode. With private B Ed Colleges coming on a collapsing mode the private participation in higher education has reduced drastically. It is in place to mention here that while trend of launching private schools has unprecedentedly increased over the period of years , the trend of setting up colleges is not gaining momentum in either Kashmir valley or Jammu division. Growth of private education system does not mean rise in the no of private schools only but it also demands the launch of degree colleges by private players also. Growth of education has started from the bottom,i.e, schools but it has to rise to the top, i.e, higher education also without any escalation in the costs of either school or higher education. It’s time for both the Government and as well as the private players to recapitulate and ponder over some of the issues plaguing the present private education scenario for last more than a decade in Jammu & Kashmir.
Growth of education in Jammu & Kashmir is by all standards of understandabilities impossible without changing the dimensions of the private education system and from now on wards equal focus on encouraging participation of private players in higher education holds key to growth of private education system as a whole in Jammu & Kashmir.
Private players if motivated to set up degree colleges will consequently reduce the increasing stress on admissions in Government Degree Colleges the time when trend of admission seekers from Jammu & Kashmir in private colleges of several states and union territories of the country is rising year after year. Notably private degree colleges are playing a more vital role in the growth of higher education in several states and union territories of the country. By all standards of understandabilities the higher education is a new sector for investment in Jammu & Kashmir. Growth of education in Jammu & Kashmir is by all standards of understandabilities impossible without changing the dimensions of the private education system and from now on wards equal focus on encouraging participation of private players in higher education holds key to growth of private education system as a whole in Jammu & Kashmir.
