Education is the most powerful weapon that can change the world. It is a silent, but potent, language. Education is a basic right and a necessity. It is not just a need of the hour but is inevitable. More than a basic human right, I feel it is what makes a perfect human being.
Imagine a world, in 2020, where students still dream of accessing basic education, not because of the lack of money or because of any fault of their own. Imagine a million dreams being shattered each year. It may seem hard to imagine such a situation, but that is the reality in Kashmir. The political disturbances and the terrorist activities in the valley make regular schooling and education next-to-impossible. It is very easy to debate on these issues in the media, but it is a nightmare to survive in such situations. The will and the spark to get a good education gets killed in Kashmir. Just thinking about regular schooling give one goosebumps.
Whenever the situation seems to get a little better, something unexpected happens; something beyond the control of a common person, something which extinguishes the spark in the young minds. Their interest in studies is hampered and students get used to staying home without any formal schooling.
In such situations, girls suffer more, and they have more to lose.
Even when schools open, it doesn’t feel safe for them to move out because the bullets and the bombs have no limits in the valley. While stepping out they are not even sure whether they will return to their homes. Moreover, when the curfews and strikes are in place, it is really hard to go to private tuition centres due to the lack of transport facilities.
Even if girls manage to go on their own, there is a serious threat of pellets and stone-pelting, and even assault. The security forces in the valley can open fire anytime on anyone because they are seemingly not answerable to the authorities. In such situations, it seems better to save their lives than to educate themselves.
And then, the last hope rests on online education where students feel that they can learn anything anytime and anywhere. That can be true for the rest of the world, but not Kashmir where internet services are like an electrical connection that can go off anytime. The internet cannot be trusted in the Kashmir valley because authorities can snap it anytime without any prior notice. The Valley has been without proper 4G connection since the Abrogation of Article 370.
The webinars that students pay to attend turns to be a failed attempt where they don’t just lose money but also their hope and excitement as on the scheduled date the internet service ends up being snapped because of any XYZ reason. The online classes are a mockery on the face of the Kashmiri students. Because of this pandemic, Kashmiri students who were studying around the world are now back home, not able to do anything, waiting for the situation to get better one day. Most of them are losing out on important lectures that are being taught virtually.
The overall literacy rate of Jammu and Kashmir is 68.74% (census 2011), and it is among one of the educationally backward regions of India.
There is also a significant gender gap in the literacy rate. The male literacy rate is 78.26%, and female literacy rate is just 58.01%, which depicts a gender literacy gap of 20.25%. Though there has been considerable progress in the female literacy rate from earlier data of 2001 census (43.0%), the gender disparity in education still exists in the region.
The debates and the discussions have to end one day. We cannot turn the future of the valley into nought. Psychologists have something to say on the regularity and continuity of the education because when there is no persistence there is no courage. Education seems like a mere formality, with students attending classes once or thrice a month. Not just this, the dropout rate of students, especially girls, is projected to increase due to the pandemic and its effects.
How sad it is to kill one’s own interest for the interest of the state, how heartbreaking it is to see your own dreams shattered each morning you wake? The future of the Valley is a lie, a big question mark.