EDUCATION LOSES TO STRIKES IN KASHMIR

ARTICLE ABOUT: IMPACT OF STRIKES IN KASHMIR ON SCHOOL EDUCATION

PBLISHED IN: GREATER KASHIR - JAMMU AND KASHMIR'S LEADING NEWSPAPER

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Op-Ed

And we suffer a huge loss



EDUCATION


As the political uncertainty continues to rule Kashmir, education gets sidelined and students suffer in the process, writes Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

Education is one of the institutions that make up the social structure of any society and it has been described varyingly by scholars of different leanings and eras. Talcott Parsons and other sociologists belonging to the ‘functional school’ of thought have called schools as grounds for proving the worth of children that is their mental capacity and caliber, based on which they are allotted positions of importance in the society. Emile Durkheim calls schools as miniature societies in themselves which prepares the child for generation replacement; and at the other end come scholars like Karl Marx, who criticize the education system as being a design of the dominant classes to perpetuate the norms and values held by them as the ones desirable for society. Whatever may the differences among the scholars of different ages or the citizens, there is no denying the fact that education remains an indispensable social institution; it remains to be a single most potent tool of development around the globe. Education measured in percent literacy rate very rightly serves as an indicator of development and inclusive growth in the country. But again we must keep in mind that a fairly good level of literacy rate in the country does not indicate the disparities within. The region disparities, class and caste disparities, gender and other disparities often go unnoticed when we appreciate a cumulative picture for the country.
The disparities in education system are inherent and the Governments, both union and state, have taken ample steps for a larger expansion of the education base in Jammu and Kashmir, as in other states. Jammu and Kashmir, along with North-Eastern states and Sikkim, is included as a special category state for allocation of funds and setting up modalities of the centrally sponsored schemes. Hence special emphasis has been given to the specific needs of Jammu and Kashmir State in various schemes and programmes on education funded by the Central Government. And the results, no doubt, have been showing healthy trends but as already mentioned disparities do creep in as no scheme or programme can be fully fool-proof. Both extrinsic and intrinsic factors play a role in the outcome of education process in the state. The seriousness of the political community towards education can be realized by the fact put forward by political experts across the state that no political party has made education as a visible agenda in the manifesto for the ongoing assembly elections in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
A fact remains that education process in Kashmir has been held hostage by the ongoing controversies and unsettled issues, taxing the nerves of an average Kashmir. Curfews, strikes, protests, bandhs (shut down) and the like have become an order of the day due to a host of factors that keep on challenging the resilience of Kashmir day in and day out. At an average, two to three days in a week, the educational institutions remain closed and thus a discontinuity in the education process also creeps in. The current year has seen a painful loss of tens of thousands of education-days (number of days spent by a student in the educational institutions) owing to these protests, shut downs, clashes and resultant curfews. If one just multiplies the number of students in the valley with the number of days lost, the figures will be astonishing. As we calculate loss of days of workforce to arrive at losses in economic terms, we also need such a calculation for loss of education days in the Kashmir valley in socio-economic losses as well as deprivation of the Right to Life, which has rightly been interpreted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as the Right to a dignified life.
Going by the literacy rate, which is the visible and quantifiable indicator of education level, the Jammu and Kashmir state stands at bottom along with sates like Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh. The state ranks 32 out of the 35 states and union territories taken together. As per the 2001 census, which has the most authentic figures, the literacy rate our state stood at 55%, slightly better than Jharkhand and Bihar. The literacy rate for the women stood at a dismal 43% as compared to 66% for males, both far below the national average which is a serious cause of concern. Given these realities, the education system ought to be class apart to at least catch up with the nation average, but it is evident that we could not do anything extraordinary in past seven years since the last census document was made public. The efforts made by the concerned agencies of change can not bring the desired results until and unless the mass support to the endeavors of education extended overwhelmingly across the state.
The Amarnath land row and the resultant shutdowns across the state, especially in valley, badly affected the education system. It remains a fact that past six months had been nothing less than a disaster for the education system of the valley, and the losses will surely percolate down. This is only one instance to mention in the present context but there are ample examples of incidences which severely affected the education system for over two decades now.
Problems creep in with every passing day by but the million dollar question is: whether we articulated our concern for deteriorating education system? The shut down during shrine land issue was criticized by one and all for the reason of economic losses or delay in completion of developmental works, but the concern for loss of opportunity to attain knowledge for the student community was hardly articulated by any organization forcefully. Education in valley suffered silently, hardly noticed by the civil society. Now we need to develop a political consensus on education and express maturity of thought, while giving calls for strikes or bandhs or even clamping curfew to avoid law and order problem. A consensus should be arrived at that the schools and educational institutions shall be kept away from any political conflict, and all the stakeholders need to extend active cooperation for smooth running of the education system. Schools colleges and other educational institutions along with their movable and immovable infrastructure should not only be spared from such calls but active cooperation needs to be extended so that education does not suffer because of political protests or the like. This will need the highest degree of political maturity, strong feeling for a social commitment, support from the executive and mass awareness about the superiority education over all other affairs.
By victimizing the education sector we will be victimizing our future generations, advertently or inadvertently. So the need of the hour is that education should be given the top priority by all the citizens as well as all the organizations and institutions. If education keeps on suffering at the present scale, Kashmir will surely die a silent death, with all those responsible standing as mute spectators. Apart from that, the education system needs to be strengthened through skill up-gradation and innovative techniques which will be possible by active cooperation and participation by all of us.

(The author is an IFS officer presently posted in Srinagar, Feedback at shahidiqbalc@gmail.com)



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