The Amalgamation Paradox in J&K’s Education System

Dr. Asif Iqbal

“Amalgamated schools exist in a state of institutional ghosting—physically present, academically active, yet digitally and financially erased.”

The educational landscape of Jammu & Kashmir has recently undergone a significant structural shift. In an effort to streamline resources and address the challenges of “zero distance” campuses or lack of construction space, the government initiated the amalgamation of numerous schools. While the intent—optimizing infrastructure and teacher-pupil ratios—was grounded in logistical logic, the execution has birthed a complex administrative paradox.

Today, these amalgamated schools exist in a state of “institutional ghosting”: they are physically present and academically active, yet digitally and financially erased. This disconnect is creating a chaotic environment that threatens the very quality of education the policy sought to improve.

The Digital Disconnect: PFMS and UDISE+ Deactivation

The primary source of the current friction lies in the digital infrastructure. To formalize the merger, the individual identities of amalgamated schools were deactivated on critical portals: the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) and UDISE PLUS.

When a school’s PFMS account is deactivated, its financial heartbeat stops. Grants for maintenance, sports, uniforms, and mid-day meals—which were previously earmarked for the specific needs of that unit—are now redirected or consolidated into the “parent” school’s account.

However, the parent school often lacks the legal or administrative mandate to distribute these funds to the amalgamated unit with the necessary flexibility. This has left staff in the amalgamated wings struggling to meet day-to-day operational costs, essentially running on “borrowed” time and resources.

The Record-Keeping Quagmire

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of this transition is the persistence of “shadow identities” in academic record-keeping. While the staff and students are technically shifted to the UDISE code of the parent school for statistical purposes, a strange inconsistency remains:

Separate Admission Records: Many schools are still instructed or feel compelled to maintain separate admission registers for the amalgamated units.

Isolated Result Sheets: Evaluation and certification often continue under the banner of the original school name.

This creates a “dual-citizen” status for students. On paper (financially and statistically), they belong to the parent school; in the classroom (academically and historically), they belong to a school that technically no longer exists on the national portal. For administrators, this is a clerical nightmare. It doubles the workload, leads to discrepancies in data reporting, and creates significant hurdles when students require transfer certificates or official documentation for scholarships.

The Human Cost: Chaos and Hesitation

In the absence of a comprehensive Administrative Executive Order, a vacuum of authority has emerged. School heads are operating in a gray area, leading to several critical issues:

Accountability Gaps: When a ceiling leaks or a laboratory needs supplies in the amalgamated wing, who is officially responsible? The parent head, who holds the funds, or the original school head, who still manages the records?

Staff Demoralization: Teachers from amalgamated schools often feel like “guests” in the parent institution. Without a clear hierarchy defined by an executive order, seniority disputes and role overlaps are becoming commonplace.

Parental Confusion: Parents are often left wondering which school their child actually attends. This lack of clarity erodes trust in the public schooling system.

The Need for a Definitive Policy Roadmap

To prevent the total breakdown of this system, the Directorate of School Education and the Administrative Department must move beyond verbal instructions and temporary “stop-gap” arrangements. A formal, codified executive order is required to address the following:

Unified Financial Management: If the goal is a total merger, the parent school must be given a clear, streamlined protocol for allocating funds to the amalgamated wing, ensuring no student loses out on their entitlements due to a deactivated portal.

Legacy Record Integration: A “Sunset Clause” should be established for the old records. The department must provide a roadmap for migrating legacy admission data into a single, unified register under the parent school’s UDISE code to eliminate the “dual-record” system.

Infrastructure Ownership: Clear directives are needed regarding the use of the physical land and buildings of deactivated schools to ensure they are maintained and utilized effectively under the new administrative umbrella.

Amalgamation should ideally lead to a “1+1=3” scenario—where combined resources create a better environment than the sum of their parts. Currently, however, the lack of administrative clarity has resulted in a “1-1=0” outcome for many institutions.

The schools in Jammu & Kashmir are at a crossroads. By issuing a clear, comprehensive executive order that aligns financial deactivation with academic integration, the government can transform this period of chaos into a model of efficient governance. It is time to breathe legal and administrative life back into the system so that teachers can focus on teaching, and students can focus on learning, rather than navigating the wreckage of a half-finished merger.

Author Dr. Asif Iqbal is a teacher. He can be mailed at bhatasif321@gmail.com