Pupil-teacher ratio, average teachers per school remain unchanged
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Sept 16: School enrolment has increased in Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2024-25 even as the total number of schools and teachers dipped slightly compared with 2023-24.
Nationally, the school enrolment has dropped for the third consecutive year with 24.69 crore in the year 2024-25, 24.80 crore in the preceding year (2023-24), and 25.18 crore in the year 2022-23.
As per the Education Ministry’s latest UDISE+ data, J&K has 24,192 schools, 26,54,012 students and 1,66,717 teachers, against 24,296 schools, 26,29,949 students and 1,67,046 teachers last year (2023-24).
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While the pupil-teacher ratio remains 16 in 2023-24 and the consecutive year, average teachers per school also stay at 7, the average enrolment per school rose from 108 in 2023-24 to 110 in 2024-25.
Operationally, the zero-enrolment schools increased from 119 to 146, but teachers posted there dropped from 238 to 61. Similarly, the single-teacher schools rose from 1,330 to 1,371, with enrolment in such schools up from 31,054 to 32,303.
The student profile shows General Category 68.9% (down from 70.2%), SC 8.2% (unchanged), ST 15.4% (up from 14.0%), and OBC 7.4% (down from 7.6%). Muslim students are 68.9%, marginally down from 69.0%.
The data further read that facilities show broad improvement. While libraries/book banks/reading corners increased from 18,000 to 18,171, playgrounds eased from 18,054 to 18,031. The digital libraries also rose from 373 to 381 and kitchen gardens from 4,664 to 5,010.
While Girls’ toilets went from 22,056 (functional 20,033) to 22,070 (functional 20,293), Boys’ toilets’ number slightly went down from 21,587 (functional 19,282) to 21,495 (functional 19,424).
As far as electricity coverage is concerned, there were 22,114 schools with power connections (functional 20, 889) in the year 2023-24 as against 22,127 (functional 21,093) schools with electricity connections in the following year. The solar panels declined from 4,145 to 3,910.
The data further said the computer facilities rose from 10,055 (functional 8,612) to 10,417 (functional 8,841). Similarly, internet availability in number of schools also increased from 11,016 to 11,883.
Drinking water coverage moved from 24,149 schools (functional 23,508) to 24,111 (functional 24,061), indicating a notable rise in functionality despite a slight dip in coverage. Against this, the hand-wash facilities in the number of schools increased from 22,615 to 22,633. Functional rainwater harvesting systems also edged up from 1,209 to 1,213.
Accessibility features also improved in schools as number of ramps increased from 10,254 in 2023-24 to 10,994 in the successive year while ramps with handrails also surged from 3,206 to 3,580; and CWSN facilities from 1,884 to 1,943.
The Aadhaar-seeding also strengthened with 24, 11, 847 students having provided Aadhaar in 2024-25, as against 22, 40, 346 students last year.
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