Video & Text By Shafat Mir | 14 April 2016
As the season for the migratory communities to head towards remote highlands of Kashmir nears, the kids of these people will have to shun their studies through the entire season. These nomads go to pastures and mountains for cattle rearing and the season stretches up to seven months. During all this time the kids who are supposed to accompany their parents will have nothing to do all day other than roaming in the mountains. Despite a scheme already existing, on which lakhs will be spent by the government in the form of salaries and other liabilities, there is no one to question the conduct of the people employed for this purpose. The scheme of Mobile/seasonal schools was introduced by the government of J&K way back in 2005 which has proved of little help to the kids of these herdsmen. Educational Volunteers or teachers never visit these schools and with the result thousands of these kids are deprived of the education. We travel to one such mobile school in the lap of the mighty range of Pir Panchal mountains via Doodhpathri in Budgam district. Locals say a teacher did turn up some couple of years ago, only to write down the names of children on the register, never to be seen again. Shafat Mir reports from Khiski village in Budgam.
