Teacher Forums Take Over

Forum politics now shape school schedules, leaving classrooms without instructors.

- Wani Hayat

Inside Government Middle School in Budgam district, Grade VI children wait for their first class. They whisper, fidget, and look toward the door.

Ten minutes go by, then twenty. Their science teacher still does not come.

A boy shrugs and says what everyone already knows: “Sir will come after the meeting.” He is right.

The man is twenty kilometres away, signing a petition at the Deputy Commissioner’s office because a teachers’ forum booked the 9am slot. After that he must reach the District Institute of Education and Training office for a second roll call held by the Rehbar-e-Taleem group.

By the time he returns, the last period is over and the kids have walked home.

Children here learn early that “meeting” is just another word for empty classroom.

Kashmir runs 18,724 government schools for 13.6 lakh students. One in every four has fewer than twenty pupils. UDISE+ 2025 lists 119 schools that have zero children, but every one still draws full staff salaries.

The excuse is always the same: “We are on official duty.” In plain words, duty means another meeting.

Headmasters have stopped pretending. A school in South Kashmir pinned a note to its gate last week: “No classes today, teachers attending federation work.”

The federation came up in May with a push for quicker promotions. It has no office of its own, so it uses school buildings for its rallies.