Thousands Of Students At Risk As 300 Jammu And Kashmir Schools Face Closure

Srinagar: A Class 9th student in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, 14-year-old Huzaif Ahmad, who dreams of becoming an engineer, is now staring at an uncertain future.
He is among some 600 students and teachers at a secondary school in Budgam who are worried whether their school will be closed because of its past affiliation with a trust linked to a banned group that has come under a new crackdown by the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

Like many other schools, the management says the school was delinked from the Falah-e-Aam Trust, re-registered and taken over by local community management in 2017. But sources say the secondary school is among 20 schools in the Budgam district that may face closure.

Like Huzaif, thousands of students in Jammu and Kashmir are not sure about what happens when the union territory administration’s decision to shut down around 300 private schools allegedly linked to a trust affiliated with the banned Jama’at e Islami group is implemented.

The administration has asked education department officials to close the schools within the next 15 days. The decision has been taken after State Investigative Agency (SIA) reportedly found these schools linked to the Jama’at-backed trust.

Huzaif’s school provides a boarding facility for 400 students, most of them come from poor families from various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Those who can afford to pay are charged a monthly fee of just ₹ 2,500 for tuition and boarding, said a management official.

Besides running a religious seminary – madrasa – the school is following the Jammu and Kashmir education board’s syllabus and the European Cambridge curriculum.

“We are following the syllabus devised and approved by the state board of school education. Up to class 5th, we are teaching Cambridge series which is very modern and connected to the modern era,” said Saleem Sidique, a schoolteacher.

According to the order, the recognition of all the schools linked to the Jama’at-affiliated trust has been withdrawn. The Jama’at-e-Islami, a politico-religious party, was declared a banned organisation by the government in 2019.

The chief education officers of all districts have been asked to close these schools within 15 days and shift the students to government-run schools.

According to local media reports, the SIA found these schools to be involved in the civilian unrest of 2010 and 2016 in Kashmir and also teaching Jihadi literature.

The Falah Aam Trust says only seven schools are directly affiliated with them, and denied allegations of its involvement in any subversive or separatist activity.

“We don’t know why we were banned. We only follow a government-approved syllabus and adhere to instructions from the government,” said Showkat Ahmad Var, Director, Falah Aam Trust.

Except for seven schools, the trust has no administrative or academic control over any other school, he said.

Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone has termed the decision discriminatory and alleged that the government is intentionally targeting Kashmiris.

“Selectively cracking down on institutions which have religious affiliations is grossly unfair and unjust. The administration must understand that J&K is an overwhelmingly Muslim majority state. They cannot possibly ban every institution because they have a bias against the Muslims,” said Mr Lone.

The BJP has welcomed the decision. 

“Falah Aam trust is affiliated with Jama’at e Islami. It used to run as many as 300 schools and 50,000 students are studying there. The government has banned these schools. We welcome the decision,” said Ranbir Singh Panthania, spokesman of the Jammu and Kashmir BJP