The youth of newly formed Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir are looking at colleges and universities outside, claiming that the higher education institutes in other states and UTs have better quality of education as compared to the regional institutes.

Every year, around 60,000 students pass higher secondary (Class XII) examination. Of these, more than 15,000 seek admissions in colleges outside J&K, reflecting the glaring shortcomings of the education system in the UT at the college and university level.

As per the official data, there are just 149 colleges in J&K, including professional colleges. Out of these, only 97 are functional. Further, 19 colleges still don’t have their own infrastructure.

The regional colleges and universities lag behind in the race of providing all-round development and much-needed exposure to the students. On the other hand, distant private colleges have cast their influence on the minds of students with better facilities.

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“More than 1,000 students from J&K seek admission in our university and the main reason behind it is that we have international tie-ups, that help students get the best placements and quality education, which is missing in colleges of the region,” Karan Kapoor, regional manager of Chandigarh University, said.

Aman Sharma, a computer science engineering student of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, said “I wanted to pursue a career in computer technology but was unable to find any suitable institute in the region. The other major reason of leaving J&K was the lack of continuous availability of internet services”.

“I would like to urge the government and authorities concerned to look at the ground issues that the students are dealing with and step over for remedial measures as soon as possible,” he said.

B.Tech, B.Pharmacy, designing, and other management courses are some of the major streams singled out by students moving out of the UT.

In numbers

• Every year, around 60,000 students pass Class XII examination. Of these, more than 15,000 seek admissions in colleges outside J&K, reflecting the glaring shortcomings of the education system at the college and university level
• As per the official data, there are just 149 colleges in J&K, including professional colleges. Out of these, only 97 are functional. Further, 19 colleges still don’t have their own infrastructure.

Source: Originally posted in Tribune.