Only 2 Of 800 Schools Upgraded, Others Await Posts, Funding: Govt

SRINAGAR: Two high schools in Kupwara were upgraded under a 2014 Cabinet decision, but four other schools named in the same package remain unupgraded because they did not meet feasibility criteria or because administrative and financial steps required to make upgrades functional are pending, the government has told the Legislative Assembly.

The written reply, tabled in response to a starred question by Mir Mohammad Fayaz, said that although the Cabinet decision and Government Order envisaged upgradation of some 800 schools across the Union territory, only High School Awoora and High School Gulgam were actually upgraded. The reply said High School Manzhar and Middle School Cherakoot did not fulfil the feasibility criteria set out for upgradation. Kupwara

Officials told the House that several upgraded schools could not be made functional immediately because the creation of required teaching and non-teaching posts was still awaited; the matter was earlier placed in abeyance by the then incoming government, the reply added. A report on the upgradation of Boys High School Manigah has been submitted by the Chief Education Officer to the Director of School Education, Kashmir, and will be considered when a fresh round of upgradation proposals is mooted.

The School Education Department said there is currently no immediate proposal before it for the upgradation of additional schools, as the department is concentrating on completing infrastructure and filling posts for schools that have already been upgraded. The reply stressed that upgradation carries substantial financial implications — for buildings, equipment and staff — and requires concurrence of the Finance Department as well as fulfilment of prescribed norms.

The government’s account lays out administrative and budgetary bottlenecks as the principal reasons for delay: feasibility shortfalls, stalled post creation, and the need for finance concurrence. The reply noted that when fresh proposals are submitted, the department will examine the feasibility of the schools named in the Assembly question for possible inclusion.