“In most of the school buildings plywood sheets are used as partition walls and most of the classes in such schools are even without doors and windows and henceforth unfit for class work even in mid-summer months”.
Schooling is not all about enrollments but it is more about the accommodation facilities, availability of laboratories and libraries and also recreational activities in both Government and as well as private schools. Enrollment drive launched by the School Education Government in Government schools last year had undoubtedly shown rise in enrollments and in view of the overwhelming response to last year’s enrollment drive the School Education Department is all set to launch yet another fresh enrolment drive immediately after the ongoing annual examination this year also. However motivating parents to enroll their children at schools may be a success but the challenges begin thereafter with the shabby condition of school buildings and capacity of class rooms giving bad indications about intake capacity at Government schools. Qualified staff may not be an issue with the Government but the lack of basic infrastructural facilities is undoubtedly an issue left unaddressed by the school education department for decades together. The response to fresh enrollment drive at Government schools would be more encouraging if the Government simultaneously launches a bigger initiative to complete the incomplete school buildings and rebuild the school buildings damaged in recent years. Unfortunately in most of the school buildings plywood sheets are used as partition walls and most of the classes in such schools are even without doors and windows and henceforth unfit for class work even in mid-summer months when classes of such schools are also conducted under open sky. While quality infrastructural facilities attract huge enrollments in private schools of both Kashmir and Jammu division, the schools buildings left incomplete in shabby conditions for years together can in no way attract fresh enrollments. Though many government school buildings in different rural as well as urban areas have been declared unsafe by the Public Works (R&B) department in recent years but the school education department does not bother to shift such schools to safer places.
“For all practical purposes the school education department can’t improve the basic infrastructural facilities in Government schools without increasing the annual budget for basic infrastructural facilities. Good accommodation is not only good for increasing enrollments but it is also good for creating an environment of competition for quality education in Jammu & Kashmir like several states and union territories of the country. Schools are not just learning centres but they are also epicenters of recreational activities usually undertaken to teach children life skills from the very beginning.”
The shabby condition of school buildings leaves inevitably an impact on student performance and learning. As the average school building in Jammu & Kashmir is more than 40 years old , their reconstruction and repair is overdue. Decaying conditions of school buildings as such deserve and demand an urgent and immediate attention of the higher authorities of the school education department. Never forget that better the infrastructural facilities more encouraging would be the response of the enrollment drives in Government schools. While the wage bill of the teaching staff of the school education department is almost next to wage bill of J&K Police Department but the annual budget for upgradation of the infrastructural facilities is not even half of the wage bill of the teaching staff of the school education department. For all practical purposes the school education department can’t improve the basic infrastructural facilities in Government schools without increasing the annual budget for basic infrastructural facilities. Good accommodation is not only good for increasing enrollments but it is also good for creating an environment of competition for quality education in Jammu & Kashmir like several states and union territories of the country. Schools are not just learning centres but they are also epicenters of recreational activities usually undertaken to teach children life skills from the very beginning.
