Reflecting the non-seriousness of the administration, 90 per cent of the government-run educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir are without subject specific teachers which has adversely affected academic standards of students.According to wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), as per official figures, only 10 percent government schools in Jammu and Kashmir have teachers for all subjects prescribed for students.An official said that the department was facing dearth of subject specific teachers for all classes in government schools across Jammu and Kashmir. The dearth has been caused due to the flawed adjustment of teachers in schools irrespective of the requirement of the students.“The teachers who have done their masters in any particular subject are adjusted in offices to man non-teaching jobs while as the teachers who have pursued only gradation or were recruited on 10+2 basis are serving in schools,” an official told KNO, adding that these teachers can’t teach all the subjects at middle and secondary level classes.He also said the majority of subject specific teachers are adjusted in city schools while as government schools in rural areas are facing dearth of teaching staff, resulting in poor academic standards of students.
Recently, a survey was done by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to assess the success of school education department in India. The survey has also painted a grim picture of the education sector in terms of availability of teachers for core subjects and heads of the institutions to monitor the academic activities in schools.“The dearth of subject specific teachers in educational institutions is main reason of poor performance of students in class 10th board exam,” the official told KNO. As per the official figures, majority of government schools also fail to meet subject-teacher norms. “The adverse situation has arisen in schools because it has been observed that in various cases, the teachers are posted as per their own convenience irrespective of the requirement in schools,” the official said.Meanwhile, the official figures have also revealed that only 55 percent secondary and higher secondary schools in Jammu and Kashmir are with permanent heads of the institutions. “186 posts of headmaster and more than 90 posts of principals are unfilled in the department,” the official said.Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) Muhammad Younis Malik when contacted told KNO that the department has given direction to all Chief Education Officers (CEOs) to submit requirement of subject specific teachers in schools. “We are aware of the problem and it will be addressed from the next academic session. The headless institutions will be given permanent head as well,” he said. (KNO)