Kulgam, July: The education sector in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district is struggling due to numerous vacant key positions, including the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Deputy CEO, and 16 principals, among 170 posts, thereby impacting the quality of education in the district severely.
Figures accessed by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) reveal that one position each of Chief Education Officer, Deputy CEO, 16 Principals, 124 Lecturers, 3 ZEOs, 4 ZPEOs, and 21 Headmasters are lying vacant in Kulgam district.
“The Chief Education Officer retired in May this year, and the CEO of Anantnag has been assigned the additional charge of CEO Kulgam. The position of Dy CEO Kulgam has been vacant for many years, with the DDO powers of Dy CEO Kulgam currently assigned to a senior HSS Principal,” officials said.
They said that out of 321 sanctioned lecturer posts in the 26 higher secondary schools, only 197 are currently filled, leaving 124 lecturer posts vacant.
“In Kulgam district, there are 26 higher secondary schools (HSSs), but only 10 have principals, leaving 16 HSSs, including GHSS Kulgam, GHSS Yaripora, and HSS Qaimoh, without heads,” officials said.
To address the crisis, School Education Department has begun the process of hiring 58 allocated ‘Cluster Resource Coordinators’ to provide temporary teaching support in high and higher secondary schools, but these positions have not yet been filled.
Officials further said that there are around six education zones in Kulgam, three of which are vacant: DH Pora, Qaimoh, and Kulgam.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kulgam, Athar Amir Khan, told KNO that in-charge principals are in place in all these educational institutions. “The matter has also been taken up with the education department,” he said.
