J&K Staffing Chasm: Govt schools stuck below 5 teachers, private surge past 13

Srinagar, Jul 14: In Jammu and Kashmir, a striking disparity emerges wherein the government-run-schools average less than five teachers per school and on the contrary private schools average more than 13 teachers per institute respectively—thus raising a question on quality of education being imparted to students.
The official figures revealed by the Ministry of Education (MoE) said that in the academic year 2025-16, Jammu and Kashmir sees government schools average with just 4.8 teachers per school.
However, on the contrary, private schools in J&K on an average have recorded 13.7 teachers per school.
It also reveals that despite having a dominance of 18,787 schools, the government is functioning the School Education Department with just 91,569 teachers and on the contrary, Jammu and Kashmir’s 5,397 private schools exert a huge human resource of 74,226 teachers.
Furthermore, the MoE figures said that despite having only 5,397 private schools in Jammu and Kashmir, the private sector is educating nearly fifty percent of the total student enrolment with 12.89 lakh out of 26.53 lakh total enrolled students.
As per the fresh figures revealed by the MoE, private schools in Jammu and Kashmir average 239 students per institution.
The government-run-schools on the contrary, despite having 18,852 infrastructures, the department is managing only 51.4 percent students with 13.63 lakh students—averaging a mere 72 students per school.
As already reported, in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,544 schools are being run by single teachers each wherein more than 33,537 students are enrolled.
The Union Territory is also functioning with 188 such schools that are having zero student enrolments. Interestingly, 87 teachers are still deployed to these empty institutions, drawing salaries while teaching no one.
These figures were recently released by the Department of School Education and Literacy for the Ministry of Education (MoE) wherein the ministry has said that 1544 schools in Jammu and Kashmir are functioning with single teachers.
It has learnt that there are 33,537 students enrolled in those 1544 schools that are functioning with single teachers.
Furthermore, MoE has said that 87 teachers are posted in such schools that are having zero enrolments and 188 schools are without any student enrolled.
Earlier this news agency reported that MoE in a meeting of Project Approval Board (PAB) for considering the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B) 2026-27 has said that in Jammu and Kashmir at least 146 schools have reported functioning without any student enrolled and over 1355 other schools are functioning with single teachers.
“141 primary schools and five upper primary schools were reported with zero enrolment,” MoE said. (KNO)