Although government schools in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are facing a shortage of teaching staff, nearly 14,000 teachers have been deployed for census duties, adversely affecting the education of students in government-run institutions.
Minister for School Education and Higher Education Sakina Itoo admitted that the functioning of schools has been severely impacted due to the deployment of teachers for the ongoing census.
“Government schools in Jammu and Kashmir are already facing a shortage of teaching staff because no fresh recruitment of teachers has taken place since 2019,” Itoo said, adding, “The deployment of a large number of teachers for census duties has further compounded the situation.”
“We are already in the middle of the academic session. Students will suffer due to the deployment of teachers for census duties at this stage,” she said. “Many schools have been left without adequate teaching staff after teachers were assigned census work.”
While acknowledging that conducting the census is an important exercise, the minister urged the authorities to explore alternative arrangements so that teachers deployed for census duties could return to their schools, especially with examinations approaching.
“I agree that someone has to perform census-related duties, but I believe teachers should not be assigned this responsibility because it adversely affects students’ education,” she said. “I had earlier written to the concerned authorities in this regard, and I will send another reminder.”
According to official data, Jammu and Kashmir has a total of 24,192 schools across its two divisions. The administration classifies educational institutions into summer zones (primarily the plains of Jammu) and winter zones (the Kashmir Valley and hilly regions of the Jammu division) to manage the academic calendar, winter vacations and examination schedules.
Although there is no strict 50:50 division, schools are geographically categorised into distinct zones for administrative and academic purposes.
Winter Zones: These include the entire Kashmir division and the winter-prone districts of Jammu division, including Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi, Udhampur and Kathua.
Summer Zones: These include the majority of schools in the remaining districts of the Jammu division.
Nearly 15,000 Teaching Posts Vacant in J&K
During the recently concluded Budget Session of the Assembly, the Jammu and Kashmir Government informed the House that 14,943 teaching posts, including 12,977 teachers and 1,966 Masters, are lying vacant across the Union Territory. While the Jammu division accounts for the majority of vacancies, the government said that promotional posts are being filled through departmental promotion committees.
According to the government, 4,992 teacher posts are vacant in the Kashmir division, while 7,985 posts are lying vacant in the Jammu division.
In the Kashmir division, Anantnag has the highest number of vacancies at 1,016, followed by Budgam (797), Pulwama (764), Kupwara (621), Srinagar (535), Bandipora (310), Baramulla (284), Shopian (256), Ganderbal (244), and Kulgam (165), taking the divisional total to 4,992.
In the Jammu division, Rajouri tops the list with 1,416 vacancies, followed by Kathua (1,332) and the Jammu district (1,234). Udhampur has 912 vacancies, Poonch 946, Doda 866, Reasi 479, Samba 345, Kishtwar 312, and Ramban 143, bringing the divisional total to 7,985.
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