25 Mobile Schools to Migrate with Kashmir’s Nomadic Gujjars and Bakherwals!

For these kids in Kashmir, education is often hampered due to migration.

Every year, the nomadic Gujjar and Bakherwal communities migrate to the upper reaches of the Kashmir valley in summer. The two ethnic groups rear flocks of sheep and goat, between high and low altitudes, in the Western Himalayas. Now, since summers are well underway, these people have started their migration from the hotter areas of Jammu, to the colder, mountainous regions of Kashmir.

These tribal folks observe a nomadic lifestyle and follow the custom of annual migrations and keep travelling year after year. Due to this, their children are deprived of a proper education.

For the Bakherwal community in Kashmir, migration is a way of life.Representative image only. Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons.

Well, this is set to change, as authorities in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir have made arrangements for around two dozen schools to move with the nomadic tribes and ensure that the children can learn, even while on the move.

According to the plan, 25 schools, with a roll-strength of 801 students, will move with the migrants. Each school will be provided with 45 teachers for running it, and the initiative will be beneficial even when the migration reaches the high-altitude areas in Kashmir. There are another 41 schools for tribal populations that remain stationary. These cater to around 1,451 students, of which 802 are boys.

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