SRINAGAR: More than 80 per cent of lecturer posts sanctioned for teaching Kashmiri in schools across the Valley are lying vacant, the government informed the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, years after the language was introduced as a subject in government institutions.
In a written reply to a question by Srinagar legislator Mubarak Gul, the School Education Department disclosed that against a sanctioned strength of 27 Kashmiri lecturers in higher secondary schools of the Kashmir division, only five are currently in position. The remaining 22 posts are vacant across nine districts.
The data shows that all five sanctioned posts in Kupwara district are vacant. In Baramulla, Ganderbal and Pulwama, two posts each remain unfilled. Of the four sanctioned posts each in Anantnag and Budgam, three are vacant. Bandipora and Kulgam have two vacancies each, while one post is vacant in Shopian.
The government further stated that Kashmiri is presently not taught as a subject in schools of the Jammu division.
Kashmiri was introduced as a subject in primary and middle government schools in the early 2000s and later extended to Classes 9 and 10 from the 2018–19 academic session. It was already being taught at the higher secondary level at that time. In recent years, the subject has also been introduced in several private schools in the Valley.
The sanctioned strength of Kashmiri lecturers, which stood at 11 prior to 2009, was increased to 27 in 2019. However, recruitment has not kept pace with the expansion.
The vacancy position persists despite the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020 by Parliament in 2020, which included Kashmiri among the official languages of the Union Territory.
While Kashmiri is widely spoken across the Himalayan Valley, academics have repeatedly pointed out that a comparatively smaller proportion of the population can read and write the language fluently. Urdu and English continue to dominate as preferred mediums of instruction and communication, particularly among urban and middle-class families.
Responding to concerns over implementation, the government said efforts are underway to promote and strengthen the teaching of Kashmiri in line with the National Education Policy 2020. It said implementation is being carried out at the level of Chief Education Officers under the supervision of the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, to ensure systematic rollout in schools.
