Nelsion Mandela the man known for dismantling apartheid in South Africa once said ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’. True it is that there is no end to education. Nelson Mandela is the politician of international repute who used education as a tool for freedom in South Africa. Education is not all about reading books and passing examinations. The whole life, from birth to death is a process of learning. Quality education is the strongest tools of human empowerment and makes people stronger enough to withstand the challenges of life in any given situation. Education keep people aware about the surrounding atmosphere which keeps on changing from time to time. Education plays a vital role in nurturing the talent of the people in prime youth. Education is the only instrument which provides ample opportunities to people to learn the real human values and understand the modes of professional excellence in every sphere of human life. Going through the history people come to know that first modern boy’s school in Kashmir was founded in 1880 by J.Hinton Knowles in the premises of missionary hospital in Srinagar founded as the church mission society school boys. It is now called the Tyndale Biscoe School named after Earle Tyndale Biscoe who was the first principal in 1891.There where 250 students in the beginning they were all Brahmin Hindus. The Muslim majority was ignored by the leaders. Then in 1899 the Mirwaiz Molvi Rasool Shah founded an organization called Anjuman-e-Nusratulism to promote religious education and spread its network throughout the valley.
Our education system always remains a concern because our state Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed part and one of the biggest conflict zones of the world. This conflict is the biggest barrier to education at all levels . Conflict poses a huge challenge to education in Kashmir. Everyone in Kashmir valley knows that education is priceless and it is for this reason that every parent wishes and hopes that his/her child gets the best education to withstand all the challenges of human life.
It is very unfortunate that education has become vulnerable to the disturbances in Kashmir valley as students are caught between the devil and the deep sea. We Kashmiris suffer a lot for the last 67 years and education sector has been worst hit by the troubles in Kashmir. Closure of schools has now become a routine practice in Kashmir valley. Students are so badly hit that even their class work is threatened by the continuing disturbance . Many schools were gutted from time to time. One can’t deny the fact that violence and conflict reduces both the quantity and quality of education.
Yet Jammu & Kashmir is the only state that has made education free to all citizens at all levels, but the state is still educationally backward. Against the national literacy rate of 73% the state has literacy figure of 67.17%.The process of education in Kashmir faced many challenges in the past and the current security scenario is also throwing up huge challenges to growth of education in the state.Now the question arises how to tackle the challenge emanating from the disturbances and bring about improvement in the field of education.
The successive popular governments have not declared education a priority sector which is the crying demand of intelligentsia in Kashmir. So our whole education system must be reformed with focus on weeding out corruption and nepotism from the selection process.
Turmoil is brewing up frustration among unemployed pass outs of different colleges and universities in the state. Corruption and nepotism have become the order of the day as transparency in selection process is throwing up new challenges to the meritorious students and performers of highest standards. The lack of transparency in the selection processes ultimately becomes the source of discouragement for the hard working and talented youth of the state. Popular governments have not taken care of the meritorious but instead have encouraged the children of power wielding politicians through favouratism and nepotism. Many politicians both the mainstream and as well separatists are sending their wards to foreign countries for education, but show no concern for the future of the children of the middle class people who always find themselves at the receiving end . So education brings frustration and miseries to the middle class familes . It is an old saying that Pen is mightier than sword and it is need of hour in the Kashmir valley .
Time has come for all the educated youth to come forward and highlight their issues on both national and international level. I have seen many poor boys who have talent but due to of financial problems they can’t pursue higher eduction. It is the duty of our teachers to recognize those students and guide and help them in their future endeavours. Present government headed by a woman Chief Minister is totally in deep slumber and even if official figures are to be believed we find that as per economic survey the state of Jammu and Kashmir has around 7 lakh unemployed youth. The unemployed youth are becoming more and more rebellious. Their attitudinal change towards education is an issue of grave concern. The successive popular governments have not declared education a priority sector which is the crying demand of intelligentsia in Kashmir. So our whole education system must be reformed with focus on weeding out corruption and nepotism from the selection process.
(The author is a former researcher in Botany. His views are personal)
