Achieving near-universal enrollment is just the beginning; the real challenge lies in enhancing classroom experiences, strengthening teaching quality, and promoting critical thinking to prepare children for a rapidly changing world
Nearly every child in Jammu and Kashmir is now enrolled in school. This in itself is an achievement, one that past generations fought hard to secure. But the real question is—what happens inside our classrooms? Does education mean high marks in examinations alone, or should it mean preparing our children to think critically, solve problems, and face life with confidence and resilience?
Despite access being nearly universal, the dropout rate still rises at the secondary stage. The reason is no mystery. As the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 points out, we face a “learning crisis.” Many students carry unaddressed gaps from their early years, and as the curriculum becomes more advanced, they find themselves unable to cope. The result is frustration, disengagement, and, too often, withdrawal from school.
From Access to Quality
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) laid the groundwork by ensuring universal access, enrollment, and retention in schools. However, the challenges before us today are of a different order. We now need an education system that not only equips young people for a future shaped by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data, but also prepares them to confront pressing global issues such as climate change, rising pollution, and dwindling natural resources. In this context, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 rightly positions itself within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 4, which calls on all nations to guarantee inclusive, equitable, and quality education while fostering lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.This is not a luxury. It is a necessity. The global employment landscape is changing so quickly that we cannot afford to remain spectators. The NEP envisions that by 2040, India will have an education system second to none—equitable, inclusive, and world-class, no matter a student’s social or economic background.
What Quality Demands
To achieve this, J&K requires sustained efforts beyond policy interventions. It calls for classrooms that inspire, libraries that nurture curiosity, safe playgrounds that build resilience, digital tools that connect learners to the world, and above all, teachers who are well-prepared, motivated, and equitably distributed. Quality improves when teaching methods evolve, assessments encourage understanding alongside exams, and resources are strengthened to match aspirations. This vision echoes the NEP 2020’s call for holistic, flexible, and future-ready learning.
Investment in infrastructure, curriculum reform, professional development of teachers, and technology integration are not expenditures—they are investments in human potential. As Hon’ble Chief Minister Omar Abdullah underlined during the NEP Stakeholders’ Conference at SKICC Srinagar on August 19, 2025, education is not just another sector of governance but the very backbone of J&K’s future. He was candid in admitting that unless our schools become the first choice of parents, the system will fall short of its mission.
The Five Pillars of Progress
The five foundational pillars of India’s National Education Policy 2020—Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability, and Accountability—offer both a framework and a vision for what quality education must mean in practice. Access ensures that no child, whether in the heart of Srinagar or the farthest hamlet of Gurez, is denied a school within reach. Equity demands that girls, children with special needs, and students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not just enrolled but fully supported to thrive. Quality pushes us to go beyond rote memorization, improving teaching, learning, research, and assessment so that examinations remain useful benchmarks without being the only measure of success. Affordability insists that education cannot become a privilege of the wealthy; strong public schooling must remain the great equalizer. Finally, Accountability makes it clear that responsibility is shared—teachers, administrators, and policymakers must all deliver on the promise of learning, not merely on enrollment or infrastructure. Together, these pillars remind us that true quality education is about preparing confident, capable, and resilient learners who can meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Reform on the Ground
Real reform requires three levels of action: financial commitment, policy support, and practice at the classroom level. It means seeing money spent on schools not as cost but as an investment with the highest return—human capital. It means fixing the uneven distribution of teachers, where some schools have plenty while others struggle with scarcity. It means moving away from rote-based examinations to competency-based assessments that measure understanding, application, and creativity.
Importantly, reform is not an abstract ambition; it is already visible in several schools across Jammu and Kashmir that have embraced NEP interventions early and turned them into everyday practice. These institutions provide models that can be adapted and multiplied elsewhere:
• Primary School Wawoosa, Budgam, and BPS Naik Mohalla, Zone Chandanwari, Baramulla, GPS Gaie Mohalla PriwanKulgam etc. have become flagbearers of the NIPUN Bharat Mission, focusing on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN).
• MS Poshkar, Khag (Budgam) has taken commendable strides in building communication skills among its learners.
• MS Hanumanpora, Anantnag has shown how project-based learning can be translated from theory into vibrant classroom practice.
• HSS Baduab, Gurez—located almost at the same altitude as Razdan Pass—has not only harnessed ICT tools effectively, making digital learning a reality even in remote areas, but has also introduced practical applications of Astrophysics.
• HSS Qaimoh is nurturing a spirit of scientific temper through hands-on and inquiry-driven approaches.
• BHSS Beerwah has operationalized the idea of the complex system of schooling, turning it into a functioning reality.
• HS Reshinagri, Shopian has made joyful and experiential learning a routine rather than an occasional experiment.
• GMS Khag has captured the real essence of exposure visits and bagless days, giving students learning experiences that go beyond textbooks.
These examples prove that excellence is achievable within our system when vision, community participation, and dedicated effort converge. The task now is to multiply such practices until they become the rule rather than the exception.
A Shared Mission
The road ahead is not easy, but it is clear. Government can provide vision, resources, and policy, but transformation will come only through partnership. Teachers, parents, civil society, and administrators must together shoulder this responsibility.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister’s call for ten actionable points from stakeholders is a step in the right direction. It places ownership of reform not only on policymakers but also on the community. After all, schools are not just places of instruction; they are the places where our collective future is shaped.
Jammu and Kashmir has already crossed the bridge of access. The challenge now is to cross the bridge of quality. And when we do, our schools will not just enroll children—they will truly educate, empower, and prepare them for the world that awaits.
The writer is a teacher and teacher trainer
Irshad Ahmad Wani
ab******@***il.com