Omar Abdullah backs teachers, says government must fix schools first

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said teachers cannot be held solely responsible for the Union Territory's future, arguing the government must first improve working conditions, school infrastructure and staffing. Speaking at a gathering of the J&K Teachers Forum, Abdullah said teachers already face an expanding list of duties beyond the classroom, including election work, government functions and social campaigns.

"If we put all our responsibility on you and say the future will be decided by our teachers, that would be a great injustice," he said. He acknowledged the growing challenge of smartphones, social media and artificial intelligence in assessing student work. Abdullah also criticised the practice of assigning additional duties while teachers' own service grievances on transfers, departmental promotion committees and vacancies remain unresolved.

"But when your issues come up, your files do not move forward as quickly as the files moved when we have to post you somewhere else," he said. He noted persistent problems including rented school buildings, unsafe structures, ghost schools with low attendance, and teachers in remote rural posts lacking political influence. "Repairing infrastructure is not your responsibility, it is mine," Abdullah said, urging teachers to prepare students for a rapidly changing world.