Kashmir Misses Class

From Gurez to Pahalgam, students deserve schools that don’t freeze, flood, or fall.

- Mohammad Amin Mir

Education in Kashmir is still at the mercy of the sky.

When it snows, schools shut down. When the cold seeps through the tin roofs, students stay home. When the sun turns classrooms into ovens in the summer, teachers cut lessons short.

Rain floods the footpaths. Wind breaks the windows. And in every season, learning bends before the weather.

This isn't about a few stormy days. In Kashmir, it means months of lost time - an entire generation whose school years are stitched with long, avoidable gaps.

The phrase “all-weather school” might sound like a fancy policy buzzword. But here in the Valley, it's the difference between learning and being left behind.

Across districts like Kupwara, Gurez, Kulgam, and Shopian, school buildings were never made to handle the climate they exist in. Most are single-storey government structures with tin sheets for roofs and walls built from low-grade bricks.

In winter, they freeze. In summer, they roast.

In the rain, they leak. Insulation is unheard of. Heating is rare. Windows rattle loose in the wind, and broken glass stays taped for weeks.

It’s no surprise that come December, schools shut their gates. But it doesn't end there. In March, many remain shut because the buildings are still damp or damaged. In July, classes are cancelled because the rooms are unbearably hot. In September, floods wash away roads.

The school calendar in Kashmir is not driven by pedagogy. It's driven by weather reports.