School Infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir — An Analysis

Introduction

The success and economic development of nations are determined by their educational systems. Since independence, India has been continuously progressing in the education field. There is a direct relationship between school infrastructure and educational performance. People’s access to education depends crucially on the educational infrastructure in place. Therefore, the government continuously invests in educational infrastructure to improve educational outcomes in the school education system.  The school education system in India is one of the largest in the world, comprising more than 14.89 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and over 26.52 crore students from varied socio-economic backgrounds across 28 States and 8 Union Territories (UDISE+ Report, 2021-22).

In India, the “Unified District Information System for Education Plus” (UDISE+), an application developed by the government under the Ministry of Education, collects information from all recognized and unrecognized schools that impart formal education from pre-primary to higher secondary level. 

Using the data available at Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) for the year 2021-22, this article aims to understand the state of available infrastructure in the school education system in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Distribution of Schools and Enrolments by Management 

The school education system of Jammu and Kashmir comprises 28.80 thousand schools, 1.67 Lakh teachers, and 27.18 Lakh students. Figure 1 provides information about the distribution of schools by different types of management. In the Indian education system, schools are categorized into four types of management; government, government-aided, private unaided, and others. Government schools are run by the government, government-aided schools are run by private management but with rules and regulations of the government, and private unaided schools are entirely governed by private management. In the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, “government” schools account for 80 percent, and “private unaided” schools constitute 20 percent of total schools. The “government-aided” and “other” schools are negligible in the Union Territory. Compared with the distribution of schools in the country as a whole, the UT is ahead of the country as a whole in the share of government schools and behind in the privatization of school education, though by a small margin in the latter case. 

Figure 1: A comparison of the percentage distribution of schools by different types of management in Jammu and Kashmir and India, 2021-22.

Figure 2 shows the distribution of enrolments by type of management. It is clear from Figures 1 and 2 that in both the country and UT, the share in enrolments of government schools is less than their share in total schools, and the share in enrolment of private schools is higher than their share in total schools. However, in the Union territory, the differences are very high. The share of private schools in enrolments (45%) is more than twice their share in total schools (19%), and though government schools account for 80% of schools, their share in enrolments is 54% only. Therefore, in the country and more significantly in the UT, there are preferences for private schools among the people.  

Figure 2: A comparison of the percentage distribution of enrolments by different types of management in Jammu and Kashmir and India, 2021-22.

Source: Prepared based on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22.

The Infrastructure of Schools

Now let us look at the various infrastructural facilities available in the country’s school system and compare the country and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the availability of these infrastructural facilities.

Figure 3 details the various infrastructural facilities in the country and the UT. In all 27 infrastructural facilities except for three infrastructural facilities of hand wash, secondary sections having integrated science labs, and availability of solar panels, the percentage of schools having these facilities in UT is less than the country as a whole. In 15 infrastructural facilities of electricity connection, functional electricity connection, playground, functional boy’s toilet, functional girl’s toilet, library/book bank/reading corner facility, conducted medical check-ups in the last academic year, computer facility, functional computer facility, Children with Special Needs (CWSN) friendly toilet, functional CWSN-friendly toilet, ramps for Children with Special Needs (CWSN), ramps with handrails for Children with Special Needs (CWSN), kitchen garden, and rainwater harvesting, the percentage of schools having these facilities in UT is less than the country as a whole by more than ten percent. Moreover, in four infrastructural facilities for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) (toilet facility, functional toilet facility, ramps, and ramps with handrails), there is a whopping difference of more than 20 percentage points between the UT and the country as a whole.

Figure 3: A comparison of the percentage of schools with different infrastructure facilities in Jammu and Kashmir and India, 2021-22.

Source: Prepared based on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22.

As observed from figures 1 and 2, more than 99 percent of schools and enrolments in Jammu and Kashmir are in the government and private unaided (private) sector. Therefore, in Figure 4, a comparison is made between the government and private schools in the availability of infrastructural facilities in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In all the 26 mentioned infrastructural facilities, except for three infrastructural facilities of ramps for Children with Special Needs (CWSN), ramps with handrails for Children with Special Needs (CWSN), and solar panels, the percentage of government schools having these facilities is less than the percentage of private schools. In 14 infrastructural facilities of electricity connection, functional electricity connection, boy’s toilet, functional boy’s toilet, girl’s toilet, functional girl’s toilet, functional toilet facility, computer facility, and functional computer facility, internet facility, Children with Special Needs (CWSN) friendly toilet, functional CWSN-friendly toilet, co-curricular activity room/arts and crafts room, and secondary sections having integrated science lab, the percentage of government schools having these facilities is less than the private schools by more than ten percent. Unfortunately, in the infrastructural facilities of computers, functional computers, and the internet, government schools are behind private schools by a whooping difference of 55.5, 55.2, and 38.2 percentage points, respectively.

Figure 4: A comparison of the percentage of Government and Private Unaided schools with different infrastructure facilities in Jammu and Kashmir, 2021-22.

Source: Prepared based on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22.

Computers and Digital Initiatives

Figure 5 compares the country as a whole and the UT in the availability of computers and digital initiative facilities. What is astonishing is that not in any computer and digital initiative, the percentage of schools covered in the UT and country is more than 30 percent. Even worse in the case of UT is that in all the facilities except in the availability of functional laptops/notebooks, the percentage of schools having them is less than the country as a whole. It’s miserable that in five initiatives of functional tablets, functional integrated teaching learning devices, functional smart classrooms used for teaching with digital boards/smart boards/virtual classrooms/smart TV, functional mobile phones used for teaching purposes, and digital libraries less than 10 percent of schools are covered in the UT.  

Figure 5: A comparison of the percentage of schools with computer and digital initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir and India, 2021-22.

Source: Prepared based on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22.

In Figure 6, a comparison is made between the government and private unaided schools in the availability of computer and digital initiative facilities in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is unpromising to see that in all the facilities, the government schools are behind the private schools. The difference between the percentage of government and private schools having functional desktops/PCs and functional laptops/notebooks is horrible. 

Figure 6: A comparison of the percentage of Government and Private Unaided schools with computer and digital initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir, 2021-22.

Source: Prepared based on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22.

Conclusion

Details about the various infrastructural facilities and computer and digital initiatives in schools have been provided in the article and a comparison is made between the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the country as a whole with regard to both facilities. Government and private schools in the UT are also compared to the availability of infrastructural and computer and digital initiative facilities. It is observed; the UT is behind the country, and within the UT, the government schools are behind the private schools in the availability of these facilities. Therefore, efforts should be made by the government to improve the condition of schools and, more specifically, the condition of government schools in terms of the availability of infrastructural facilities and computer and digital initiatives in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

References

Ghosh, S., Guchhait, KS., & Sengupta, S. (2018). Measuring Spatiality in Infrastructure and Development of High School Education in Hooghly District of West Bengal, India. Space and Culture. https://doi.org/10.20896/saci.v6i1.331

Department of School Education and Literacy (2021-22). Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+). https://udiseplus.gov.in/assets/img/dcf2021/UDISE_Report_2021_22.pdf

https://www.caf.com/en/currently/news/2016/10/the-importance-of-having-a-good-school-infrastructure/

Data Source

UDISE PLUS. https://udiseplus.gov.in/