Modern education in Kashmir began with Christian missionaries who established the first systematic learning institutions. Tyndale Biscoe School, founded in 1880, became a household name owing to its contributions to the educational landscape of Kashmir. These institutions introduced structured curricula, modern teaching methods, and demonstrated organised education’s potential, compelling the government to recognise education as a state responsibility.
Maharaja Pratap Singh’s era (1885–1925) saw unprecedented educational infrastructure growth with the systematic proliferation of primary and middle schools. However, Maharaja Hari Singh achieved a historic milestone by passing the Compulsory Education Act in 1930, making Kashmir one of the first regions in the subcontinent to mandate universal primary education for children aged 6–11. This legislation mandated that parents of all boys aged 6 to 11 must enrol their children in schools, with non-compliance constituting a legal violation subject to monetary penalties.
To expand educational accessibility, an Educational Reorganisation Committee was established on 27 June 1938 under the leadership of K.G. Saiyidain. An adult literacy campaign was launched in 1938 following recommendations from K.G. Saiyidain. The Maharaja demonstrated particular commitment to women’s education by creating a dedicated female education department headed by a deputy director.
The post-independence period continued these educational efforts. While institutions like Tyndale Biscoe School, Mallinson Girls’ School, and public-driven trust schools, mostly run by socio-religious organisations operated, government institutions dominated the landscape. The result was remarkable: Kashmir’s professionals—bureaucrats, doctors, educators—were overwhelmingly products of government schools. This system produced competent, dedicated public servants who formed the backbone of Kashmir’s administrative and professional structure.
The Paradigm Shift: Rise of Private Schools
The late 1990s marked a dramatic transformation with the mushrooming of private, profit-driven educational institutions. This shift represented a fundamental change in how education was perceived and delivered in the valley.
Public attention increasingly turned toward these private schools despite the significantly higher costs involved. Parents began viewing private education as superior, leading to a mass exodus from government institutions that had previously been the pride of Kashmir’s educational system. The reasons for this shift are deeply rooted in the traumatic events that began unfolding in the 1990s.
The onset of militancy in Kashmir had devastating consequences across all sectors of society, with education bearing a particularly heavy burden. Many school buildings were damaged, and frequent security issues led to reduced attendance of not only students but teachers as well. The fear-filled atmosphere negatively affected the learning environment and, more importantly, government attention began to dwindle toward the educational sector owing to the extraordinary situation that obtained in Kashmir during that time.
As a logical consequence of these disruptions, the quality and accessibility of government educational institutions declined significantly, creating a vacuum filled by both public-spirited initiatives and the establishment of profit-driven private schools. The following decades witnessed private school proliferation alongside continued deterioration in government infrastructure and human resources.
The Current Crisis: Education as a Class Divider
The establishment of private schools has created an unprecedented financial burden on families. The fees that parents must pay have reached astronomical levels, particularly when viewed against Kashmir’s economic realities. A labourer or an employee in Kashmir’s private sector—whether in automobiles, retail, or other industries—would need to dedicate their entire salary to educate just one child in these institutions. This has created a deeply disturbing trend that threatens the social fabric of Kashmiri society. Education, which should be a great equaliser, has become a mechanism for creating and reinforcing class divisions—a phenomenon historically unknown in this part of the world.
The Infrastructure Paradox
The current state of government schools presents a paradoxical situation that demands immediate attention. It makes no sense to expect teachers to perform miracles when six or eight classes are crammed into three or four rooms. The infrastructure available to government school teachers at the primary and middle levels consists mostly of rented buildings lacking basic facilities and, as such, cannot motivate educators to transform these spaces into centres of excellence. Similarly, no parent, regardless of their desire to save money, would willingly admit their child to institutions that operate out of inadequate rented accommodations lacking proper laboratories, libraries, or recreational facilities.
Learning from Higher Secondary Success
Interestingly, the infrastructure in higher secondary schools is considerably better compared to primary and middle schools, and the results speak for themselves. Higher secondary government schools continue to attract substantial enrolments, demonstrating that when proper infrastructure is provided, government institutions can compete effectively with private alternatives.
However, even at this level, teachers need to step up their efforts to develop these institutions into nurseries of intellectual and professional growth. Particularly in science subjects, government school teachers must work to attract students away from expensive private coaching institutions that burden families with additional costs.
The Path Forward
1. Cluster-Based Consolidation
The government should implement a comprehensive cluster-based approach to school organisation. Instead of maintaining numerous schools with minimal enrolment in almost every neighbourhood, resources should be consolidated to create state-of-the-art institutions in strategic clusters. This will ensure resource optimisation, quality enhancement, and teacher efficiency. While this idea may seem ambitious, it offers long-term benefits in both resource conservation and educational quality improvement.
2. Support for Public-Spirited Institutions
The government should identify and actively support those private institutions that operate on public service principles rather than profit maximisation.
3. Infrastructure Development
Primary and middle school infrastructure requires immediate and comprehensive attention. The government should move away from rented accommodations to permanent, well-designed educational facilities, ensure every school has proper laboratories, libraries, computer rooms, and recreational facilities, provide adequate furniture and equipment, and ensure reliable electricity, water supply, sanitation facilities, and safety measures for schools.
4. Teacher Accountability and Professional Development
A robust accountability framework must be established for government school teachers. The current practice of allowing teachers to remain at the same posting for decades (as seen in the RET Scheme) has several negative consequences, as it results in complacency, reduced professional growth, and inequitable distribution, wherein some schools may have highly experienced teachers while others struggle with less effective educators. The government should implement regular teacher rotation policies, establish performance-based evaluation systems, and provide continuous professional development opportunities.
The writer is an Assistant Professor (History) in the J&K Higher Education Department
Mohd Zubair Ud Din
zu***********@***il.com