Srinagar, Mar 30 — As many as 3,192 schools in Jammu and Kashmir have been operating with fewer than 10 or no students since 2022, with 2,518 teachers posted in these institutions, the Legislative Assembly was informed.
Official figures show that 1,494 such schools are in the Jammu division and 1,698 in Kashmir. Of the teachers deployed, 1,934 are posted in Jammu’s low- or zero-enrolment schools, while 584 are in Kashmir.
“There were some government schools that were having zero or extremely low students enrolment. Those schools were merged with the nearby public schools,” an official said.
The data comes amid a broader rationalisation drive that saw thousands of schools merged or removed from records due to low enrolment. In 2024, around 4,394 government schools were deleted from UDISE data out of a total of 23,117 institutions.
Primary schools were the most affected. Their number declined by nearly 30 per cent—from 12,977 to 8,966—following mergers. Additionally, 392 middle schools, three high schools and one higher secondary school were removed from the UDISE+ list.
Separate figures indicate that private and other institutions also saw a marginal decline, with 5,555 functional out of 5,688 recorded till July 2024.
Overall, the total number of government and private schools in Jammu and Kashmir has dropped from over 28,800 to around 24,000, according to official data.