Where Does Education In Kashmir Stand Amidst 315 Internet Shutdowns?

Kashmir is a beautiful valley well known for its culture, history and political controversies. Newly working here towards the upliftment of education in the valley, the first thing I observed was the presence of the Indian Army. Does that have any effect on education in the valley?

While roaming around, I came across a little girl about eight years old who would have been in class 1 if there were no pandemic. As I was an outsider to the locality, she was a bit shy. But, slowly, she opened up to me. We discussed her teachers and her studies, to which she said she loves reciting poems and sketching with crayons. The little girl remembers when school meant playing with her friends, laughing, shouting and running around.

Her aunt said the internet had been patchy, and curfews have been imposed since July 2016. First, all educational institutes were shut down, and because of internet cuts, the source of e-education was also restricted. Then, abrogation of Article 370 happened where the central government revoked the article, which gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir, on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.

Since then, the administration has formulated a new definition of domicile for Jammu & Kashmir. And in the following year, Covid-19 hit the country. Thus, there have been multiple reasons for influencing girls’ education in the valley.

While looking for a place to live during my initial days, I came across many women enrolled in doctoral programs, completing their masters or preparing for civil services. Many were studying in central universities throughout the nation. But this is a small picture. The literacy rate of Jammu & Kashmir is 68.74% (census 2011), and it is among one of the educationally backward regions of India. The male literacy rate stands at 78.26%, and the female literacy rate is just 58.01%, showing a wide gap of 20.25%.

The girl’s aunt was in the first year of her undergraduate degree at Girls Degree College, Srinagar when the valley started facing massive internet cuts. All channels of communication were barred. Her life suddenly came to a standstill. There were no online education means during those days, unlike the efforts to digitize education during the pandemic.

According to her, even online education didn’t do any justice to children affected by the pandemic. Children of Kashmir do not have any means of online education, nor do they have any specific provision when it comes to government schools. She mentioned that people mostly prefer private schools to government schools in Kashmir, as they are better equipped in terms of staff, facilities, and education.

She stated that after the pandemic, locals waited some months for the pandemic to end, but after six to eight months, hope was lost. In addition to that, many school dropouts happened where locals thought their children were safe and secure at home. People preferred home education rather than staying enrolled in schools even when children were promoted with the school shutdowns.

She mentioned that no one knows when the education system will recover, there are few online classes, but there is a lack of internet facilities. To add to that, the network keeps on getting restricted due to one reason or another. There have been 315 internet shutdowns in Jammu & Kashmir since 2021, the most in India. Home education becomes a challenge too. Recently, a young girl went viral on social media complaining about the online classes. She said, “Such a load of work is meant for big children. Why so much work for small children, Modi Sahab. What can be done?”

Before the pandemic hit the state, the locals were well aware of the situation, with complete shutdowns and lockdowns. Other than the loss of primary earning activities like tourism, export, and farming, education was hampered due to various preventive methods like social distancing and staying indoors.

After being in the district for about ten days and working with volunteers virtually, I observed that education is of prime importance, no matter the gender. While the pandemic has pushed back the progress regarding education, the problem isn’t new for Kashmir. Frequent school closures and internet cuts have not helped advance girls’ education.

There remains a scope of improvement in education. For example, children should have free access to e-learning facilities, scope, and scholarships where girls can move to different cities for higher education without fear of going afar. But times are changing, the government and various NGOs are supporting many children to continue their education by providing access to the internet and computers, distributing educational kits and establishing remote classes through volunteer generation.

The author is a Kaksha Correspondent as a part of writers’ training program under Kaksha Crisis.