Srinagar- The Government of India has revealed that Jammu and Kashmir has seen a reduction of 5,089 government schools over the last decade. The number of schools in the region dropped from 23,874 in 2014-15 to 18,785 in 2023-24. This decrease reflects a significant shift in the region’s educational landscape.

Over the years, the decline has been steady, with 23,834 schools recorded in 2015-16, followed by 23,855 schools in 2016-17. The number continued to decrease to 23,904 in 2017-18 and 24,080 in 2018-19, before dropping to 23,165 in 2019-20. By 2020-21, the number of schools remained stable at 23,167, but the trend took a sharp downturn in 2022-23, with the number falling to 18,785. This reduction continued into 2023-24, with no further decrease after 2022-23. This is more than 27 per cent fall in the number of schools operating across Jammu and Kashmir.

The government attributed the closure and merger of schools to a combination of factors, including efforts to rationalise the school network. These measures were seen as necessary due to demographic changes, declining student populations in certain areas, and the need to consolidate smaller schools in order to use resources more efficiently.