Education in Jammu and Kashmir: Past Reflections and Policy Interventions

The education of a child is their birth right. Article 45 of the Constitution of India provides a vital framework in this direction. The state of Jammu and Kashmir adopted its own Constitution in 1956 in which Article 20 and 21 of it also ensure right to free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years. Lot of initiatives have been taken up to improve education at national and state level but the state could not increase the literate population beyond national average. This paper focuses on education system in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir by analysing policy interventions which is critical for the states social and economic development. The state due to various discolorations in the policy framework and its improper implementation has hampered education development. The paper will however, examine the policy intervention regarding school education and analysis is being made on literacy and enrolments and facilities for schooling. It focuses on school education in the state of Jammu and Kashmir which comprises of primary, middle and secondary including higher secondary schools (I-XII) standard. The descriptive analysis is being made to present the level of education. The study used existing literatures and other secondary sources from various government reports available from time to time including the latest Census report 2011, Digest Statistics 2001and 2007-08, published by the Directorate of Economic and Statistics, Government of Jammu and Kashmir among others.