Impact of insurgency on education in Kashmir

Abstract

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India that has made education free to all its citizens at all levels. Nonetheless, literacy at 54% lags behind the all-India level of 65%.The discrepancy is slightly larger from women (42% compared to the national figure of 54%) and for men (66% compared with a national level of 76%). The census figures on literacy show stark discrepancies within the state, except for Srinagar District, the valley of Kashmir has literacy rates of 41% and 47% on a par with Bihar, the least literate state in India. In these same districts, female literacy is below 30%. On the other hand Jammu district has a literacy rate of 77% one of the highest in India.

Keywords: Jammu and Kashmir, literacy, districts