Education ,Domicile and the Youth of J&K


After revoking the Special Status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5 last year, MHA amended a 2010 legislation- the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment Act) on March 31 by substituting the term "permanent residents" with "domiciles of J&K."
The amendments meant that the domiciles would have been eligible “for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level-4.” The level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.


The amendments meant that domiciles would have been eligible for the purpose of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level-4.
this was later revised and was reserved for residents of j&k or to those non-natives who fulfill the government criteria to be a resident.

The question here isn't about the domicile specifically but it's about the future of youths and to be more precise it's about their job security , many people supported the unamended order of the govt citing that it will increase the competition among youth and will lead to better transparency and efficiency but isn't it unfair that we are comparing the level of exposure the other states have in comparison to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We must understand that Jammu and Kashmir is a border state and conditions here are very different as compared to the rest of the country I will try to explain that in a few points.

1. According to the state's own economic survey report of 2016 mentions that the unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir is higher than the average national unemployment rate.

2. There are around 2,50,000 educated young women and men in J&K who are bearing the brunt of the lack of employment and struggle to find jobs due to the lack of s job policy.

3. J&K has the highest number of internet shutdowns in the country which is adversely affecting the education of the students as the access to the internet is our fundamental right.

4.57% of schools in J&K have an uneven Teacher-Pupil ratio. A national survey has revealed that only 43.8 percent of government schools in J&k state comply with the classroom teacher ratio(PTR).

5. As per the norms of the department, the PTR at a higher secondary school level should be 1:40 but the state has 1:32 while the teacher-student ratio at the secondary level is 1:14 against 1:35 as recommended by the erstwhile Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme.

6. Rural education and rural infrastructure in schools are very important because the majority of people in the state (72.62%) still live in rural areas and they don't have private schools. The literacy rate in J&K is 68.74% while in rural areas (excluding 0-6 Population), it is  63.18%.

7. Poor school infrastructure is also one of the many reasons for the low literacy rates in the rural areas of the state.

8. Under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan , computer-aided learning has been implemented in only 5.62 percent of the upper primary schools.

These were some facts related to the educational conditions of the state and when we compare the same with the other states then we see a huge difference in every field. During the initial days after the historical decision of abrogating article 370, we saw a steep drop in attendance in schools.
As per data compiled by the Jammu and Kashmir police based on media reports, since 1990 Kashmir has lost significant working days due to conflict.

We have to understand that when we talk about throwing state open for the non-natives to apply for jobs here and not providing reserved seats to the state's own youth then we are directly compromising their future. When we talk about the competition then we should not only consider the ones who are having better access to education but also those who are struggling to have a good education. How can you compare a village level student who has very limited exposure to a good education that he will compete with the one having a good education?

Education needs to be holistic development of the child that goes beyond basic literacy. In an environment of the conflict, even the goal of basic literacy for all cannot be met. Given the financial constraint, these children are at a disadvantage as they are unable to divert resources towards additional learning opportunities. They also do not have human capital support in form of educated parents , siblings or other family members, to assist them in their learning journey.

So when those who talk that we should not reserve seats for gazetted posts and should allow everyone to compete must understand that to reach this level we should first build our institutions strong and efficient so that each and every student of the state will get the same level of education as compared to the other elite institutions of the country.
Also empowering teachers and providing them training so that they will act as a catalyst in improving the quality of education in the state.
A scheme like NISHTHA  which is implemented in the state to train teachers should be appreciated.
School infrastructure needs a drastic change.
Increase the number of qualified teachers
Provide them better opportunities not only in the field of academics but also in the field of sports and co-curricular activities.
Make smart classrooms
Provide them internet access

Because of allowing them to face the big challenges we firstly need to provide them their basic needs.

JAI HIND








The amendments meant that the domiciles would have been eligible “for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level-4.” The level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.



The amendments meant that the domiciles would have been eligible “for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level-4.” The level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.

The amendments meant that the domiciles would have been eligible “for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level-4.” The level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant.

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