Launched on March 1, 2025, the Education Department’s door-to-door enrollment campaign in Jammu and Kashmir is in full swing, echoing last year’s success. Teachers are urging parents to choose government schools over private ones. But behind the enthusiasm lies a troubling reality: these schools lack the essentials to function.
Over 50% of government schools in J&K have no functional bathrooms—where they exist, they’re filthy. Drinking water is a rarity, desks are absent, and buildings stand in shabby disrepair. Up to the middle school level, sports facilities are virtually nonexistent, while computers and other basic amenities are a distant dream. A 2023 Ministry of Education report flagged that only 30% of these schools have clean water, and smart classrooms? Nowhere in sight.
On one hand, we boast of *Swachh Bharat Mission* and *Har Ghar Roshni*; on the other, schools languish in neglect. The enrollment push is laudable, but it’s a hollow promise without urgent investment in infrastructure—clean toilets, water, seating, and sports. J&K’s children deserve more than crumbling walls and empty slogans—they need schools that inspire, not disappoint.
