Lessons from the Life of a Kashmir Teenager Who Should Have Been in School

A few months ago, a government high school teacher in downtown Srinagar saw his 15-year-old former student, Masrat Jan, selling vegetables at a roadside stall.

“She should be in school, not weighing vegetables for customers,” the teacher told this writer.

The teacher said that he spoke to Masrat and learnt that she had found, months earlier, that she had failed her Class 9 annual exams and would not be promoted to the next class. Devastated, Masrat vowed never to return to school.

Two of her classmates, Munazah and Arbeena, also failed their exams and did not return to school, their teacher said.

Unbeknownst to them, the National Education Policy 2020 mandates remedial classes and personalised learning plans to bridge academic gaps, ensuring no child is left behind. 

The three girls’ fates are not isolated but a mirror to the cracks widening in Jammu and Kashmir’s education system. Masrat’s journey from classroom to a roadside stall lays bare how outdated practices, negligent leadership, and hollow policy implementation betray the promises of NEP 2020 and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.

Outdated Practices Persist

Schools in Jammu and Kashmir are known for holding the 'golden test,' a gatekeeping exam that gauges whether students can sit for their Class 10 board examination. This is a practice entrenched since the days of the National Policy on Education (NPE) 1968. 

Its outcome determines which students are allowed to appear in the final board examination. Once declared mandatory by the Director of School Education, Kashmir, this test is not referenced in the NEP 2020 document. 

Many believe that this test reflects rigidity and clashes with the 2020 NEP’s vision of holistic assessments, flexible exams, and multiple board exam attempts to foster genuine learning over exclusionary stress.

It is a prevalent idea that fearing ‘poor’ results, which could in turn jeopardise their Annual Performance Reports (APRs) or increments, schools sometimes prioritise self-preservation over student support and bar students from sitting for exams without taking care of their continuing education.

None other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi had voiced a similar concern when he told students in the capital, before the Bharatiya Janata Party unseated the Delhi government, that it was more focused on image-building than on students’ futures and was encouraging the practice of weeding out weak learners. The practice seems to pervade the education system across India.

In many places, included in J&K, promotions to headmaster or principal posts are decided by seniority rather than merit – which ensures that the school education system follows old patterns. Unfamiliar with educational reforms, child rights, or even the basics of governance, several such heads turn schools into dysfunctional spaces, undermining both learning and accountability.

Senior lecturer Rabia Naseem, quoted in an article in Greater Kashmir, notes similarly that underperforming and disengaged officers have undermined the efficiency of the system. 

Ram Niwas Sharma, Secretary of the School Education Department, told this reporter that holding departmental exams for promotions could only follow a policy decision and departmental scrutiny. Thus, the current system is likely to continue. 

Gaps

The chain of command, from zonal education officers (ZEOs) to chief education officers (CEOs), joint directors, directors, secretaries, and ministers, is long.

While ZEOs, CEOs, and joint-directors rise through departmental ranks, directors and above are often Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) or Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

These senior officials, frequently from non-educational backgrounds, have often struggled to realise the NEP’s objectives before their brief tenures end due to transfers or retirement.

For example, Director School Education Kashmir, G. N. Itoo issued a circular (DSEK/CEW/25/4146) on July 28, 2025, announcing an “NEP Mela (Paigam)” to mark five years of NEP 2020, scheduled for the next day. With just 24 hours’ notice, cluster heads were tasked with organising, promoting, documenting, and reporting the event, complete with photos and participant data, by July 31.

In Jammu, Director School Education, Naseem Javed, issued a similar order (DSEJ/2025/30046-31246) on July 23, 2025, directing CEOs to commemorate the 2020 NEP’s anniversary.

Though this allowed slightly more preparation time, there is a question on what such approaches achieve, seeing that they are reduced to a checklist of activities.

Implementation

Bashir Ahmad, a retired principal from Kupwara and former member of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), told this writer that while the NEP 2020 means well,  in his two years as a principal, he has never seen “even a leaf of it implemented.”

A former head of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), who also served as SCERT director, echoed Ahmad’s concerns anonymously.

“We’re told the policy is being vigorously implemented, but it’s non-existent on the ground,” they said. “The new 5+3+3+4 structure hasn’t taken off, and the old 10+2 system persists.”

Administrative disagreements among policymakers, teachers, and officials further stall coordinated reform efforts, they added.

Fazal Ilahi, a lecturer at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE) who coordinates internships there, reinforces these views.

“When earlier policies like NPE 1986, tweaked in 1992, were poorly implemented, how can we expect NEP 2020 to fare better?” he asked.

Citing late Dr. K. Kasturirangan, who chaired NEP’s drafting committee, Ilahi pointed to a lack of competent mid-level practitioners as a key barrier. He noted that foundational literacy and numeracy, emphasised by NEP, remain elusive, with children still struggling with basic arithmetic, much like during the time of the NPE 1986 when the reading, writing and arithmetic saw weak results.

Learning

The 2025 PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (formerly the National Achievement Survey) exposed learning gaps in Jammu and Kashmir, marking it as an underperformer.

Across Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle stages, the region trails national averages in nearly all language and mathematics competencies, with deficits growing as grades progress, the report finds.

At the Foundational stage, language performance lags 9 percentage points behind the national level (51% versus 60% in C-10.5), and mathematics shows similar gaps.

By the Preparatory stage, language comprehension weakens further (45% versus 56%), and mathematics, particularly skills like place value, drops to 42% against a national 54%.In the Middle stage, language remains subpar (50% versus 54%), and mathematics competencies stagnate in the 20-30% range, far below national averages.

These gaps, especially in mathematics, compound over time, signalling a systemic failure to address early learning deficits.

Notably, Jammu and Kashmir outperformed national averages in 2021, leading to questions as to whether the subsequent decline was an indicator of faltering NEP implementation.

An education department official involved in both surveys offered a rationale.

“The 2021 NAS focused on learning outcomes, while the PARAKH survey tested competencies,” said Ghulam Hassan Reshi, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Monitoring Wing, Directorate of School Education Kashmir. “The varying difficulty levels explain the decline.”

Key Players

Four key entities drive NEP 2020 implementation: the Directorate of School Education, SCERT, Samagra Shiksha, and J&K Board of Secondary Education (JKBOSE). Each faces significant hurdles.

Directorate of School Education

The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), tasked with implementing NEP 2020, notes on its website’s “policies” section that Jammu and Kashmir is “educationally backward” compared to the national scenario, citing low literacy rates, high dropout rates, gender disparities, and a disconnect between education and job opportunities.

While asserting strict adherence to NEP 2020, it claims “improvement is more pronounced in the field of girls”.

But the website reveals that in Kashmir Division, 160 higher secondary and 237 high schools lack space for “soaring” enrolments, seven higher secondary and 60 high schools are housed in rented buildings, 294 high schools have no science labs, 113 higher secondary schools have substandard labs, and 135 lack computer labs.

The DSEK’s NEP Cell was briefly led by teacher Ruheed Gul before its unmanned state following his promotion to lecturer.

The Directorate of School Education Jammu’s NIC-hosted website is slow, omits NEP 2020 details, and lists the ‘Director’s Desk’ as ‘Under development.’ Attempts to contact the director Naseem Javed Chaudhary were unsuccessful, and the existence of an NEP Cell in Jammu could not be verified.

State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT)

Established on September 1, 2020, via the Government Order No. 197-Edu, SCERT merged the State Institutes of Education (SIEs) and 20 District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). SCERT, meant to spearhead curriculum reform, teacher training, and assessments, has been affected from the outset by the absence of a full-time director. 

The post has been casually handed to successive JKBOSE chairpersons – transient bureaucrats who come and go swiftly. 

Parikshat Singh Manhas, former chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education, also held additional charge as director of the SCERT. He, like several others including the current joint director Sindhu Kapoor, came from the higher education sector.

“Those from higher education often fail to understand school-level realities and end up running irrelevant programs to appease their superiors,” a department official said, seeking anonymity. 

The official also questioned the effectiveness of moves like the Toycathon and said it was time for a departmental audit. 

Ineffective workshops at government expense, accompanied by lavish luncheons, high teas in costly cutlery, and recreational trips for NCERT and RIE Ajmer “experts,” are a hallmark of this premier teacher-training and research facility, department officials say.

An ex-SCERT staffer, requesting anonymity, revealed that the council had constituted a four-member committee under a senior academic officer to escort guests to tourist spots such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonmarg, and the Vaishno Devi shrine. 

“Each time officials visited as experts for an event, we were tasked with booking their accommodation at various locations,” the staffer said.

The reality in schools is that many teachers told this writer that they did not even know that the State Institute of Education (SIE) was abolished to give birth to the SCERT.

The effectiveness of SCERT's operations is evident from an RTI application filed by this author, which generated an acknowledgment receipt listing a retired joint director as the Nodal Officer. No response was received even after a month.

Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE)

JKBOSE remains leaderless after chairman Parikshat Manhas’s term ended in January 2025, with a one-month extension.

On February 28, 2025, No: GAD-SERV0GENL/22/2025, IAS officer Shantmanu was appointed to handle JKBOSE and SCERT duties alongside his role as financial commissioner of the School Education Department. He holds the charge of additional chief secretary also.

A lone attempt to appoint a permanent chairperson was reportedly derailed by eligibility changes that have stalled NEP reforms and delayed academic upgrades. The age limit was 58 in 2020, changed to 56 in 2022 and 57 in 2024.

The Wire reached out to education minister Sakina Itoo to get the government’s comments on where things stand, but did not receive a reply. 

Samagra Shiksha

Samagra Shiksha, a body headed by a project director in Jammu and Kashmir, is responsible for escalating funding demands for each financial year. It utilises Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data and collaborates with entities like SCERT and DIETs to assess and prioritise needs for school infrastructure, teacher training programs, and procurement of educational materials such as books.

The “JK Vision Document 2047” of 2023 accessed by the Wire notes that 5,000 government schools in remote areas lack proper infrastructure, with many operating from unsafe buildings where students share space with livestock and dogs.

The document identifies over 36,000 regularised Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers as a “threat” to the School Education Department, citing their lack of formal teaching qualifications as a key factor eroding the system’s foundation.

As per the latest figures, 17,147 ReTs and 3,500 non-teaching staff were regularised into direct quota posts, halting fresh recruitment and barring more qualified youth from entering the system.

A source informed that many ReTs secured qualifications through distance-mode programmes, repeated attempts or degrees from less reputable institutions, yet large numbers have remained in the same schools for over a decade without training, refresher courses, or exposure to modern classroom practices.

No audit has been conducted since 2018 to verify post occupancy, and Order No. 188-Edu of 2024 granted a one-time exemption to validating such degrees, enabling ReTs to be promoted to positions of masters, lecturers, senior lecturers, and principals – despite concerns about their readiness to lead effectively.

Two years after the JK Vision Document 2047 was published, it remains unclear whether school infrastructure has been overhauled.

Leadership without expertise

Five years on, the NEP falters in Jammu and Kashmir, undermined by a system that entrusts the education sector to bureaucrats  often managing additional charges from unrelated departments, who are parachuted into top education roles. With neither the time nor specialized knowledge, they craft plans and procedures through an administrative lens, far removed from the classroom's realities and the sector’s nuanced demands.

Many, though well meaning, are given an extraordinary amount of responsibility. At one point, Alok Kumar, a bureaucrat from the Indian Revenue Service was juggling five departments – Higher Education, School Education, Medical and Health Services, Aviation, and Estates.

A system's failure

Masarat endured a school devoid of any sports facilities or reading rooms, with nothing to spark or sustain her interest. Cattle roamed the grounds, sheep invaded classrooms, and once, a dog birthed puppies beside her class, her teacher tells this writer.

At 15, Masarat, and thousands like her, may have struggled with her studies, but she remains unaware of the system that finally stood in her way and pushed her out of school.

NEP-2020 and the Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao initiative guaranteed her stay in the school. Her failure is, in truth, the failure of these missions and policies the government announces one after the other – and whose heads proudly flaunt their “successful” implementation in colourful posters.

But for now, the blame rests squarely on Masarat, whose classroom has been reduced to a roadside vegetable stall, through no fault of her own.

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