J&K colleges to see fewer admissions in upcoming season due to attack: Analysts

Education analysts caution that the recent attacks in Kashmir’s Pahalgam will hit a number of students who plan to take admission in Jammu and Kashmir’s top institutes such as IIM Jammu, IIT Jammu, NIT Srinagar, etc., in the coming years.

“It (the attack) is definitely bad news for admissions in institutions in the region.  People might look for alternatives to institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, because as parents, the first concern would be the safety and wellbeing of their children. All education institutes in Jammu should be worried,” said Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and head of education and skill development practice at consulting firm KPMG in India.

“Having said that, a swift and definitive action by the Government with visible measures to assuage security concerns will go a long way in positioning J&K institutions as potential destinations,” Ramaswamy added.

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Faculty members at the institutions in the valley are assuring that campuses are secure and functioning as usual.

“We are working today. All of us are in office and safe. Terrorist attacks can happen anywhere, they have happened in the past in Mumbai too. It won’t really affect the education here, so we are not concerned about placements or admissions,” an official at the Indian Institute of Management Jammu told Mint on Wednesday.

Registrar of National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, Atikur Rehman, also said, “There is no law and order situation here. The campus is safe. Our institute is a national-level institute and we are not concerned about admissions or placements at all. Everything is fine.”

This is not the first time students in Jammu and Kashmir are facing such a situation. 

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“Only the Central institutes in J&K have got any substantial number of outside state students in the state. Except NIT Srinagar others are not based in the valley and are considered safe,” highlighted Suchindra Kumar, partner and sector leader for education sector at consulting firm PwC.

“There have been multiple issues during the last decade of local vs non-local issues at NIT campus itself, and the administration has taken agile steps to end the crisis, and bring the focus back on teaching-learning quickly. There have been cases of remote classes, and classes in Jammu for brief periods,” Kumar added.

“While the disruptions do impact the teaching and learning, the quality of students coming through JEE criteria, and the NIT brand has ensured continuity…Even during the 2010s when there was quite some disturbances in the valley, NIT Srinagar has operated on almost 90%+ of the total intake capacity,” Kumar said.

State of J&K colleges

In NIRF 2024, IIM Jammu ranked 42nd among the country’s top management institutes and IIT Jammu and NIT Srinagar ranked 62nd and 79th respectively among the top engineering colleges. In the overall ratings, University of Kashmir was ranked 69th rank while the University of Jammu (JU) was at rank 87.

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As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-21, the latest data available on number of students studying in Jammu and Kashmir over 230,966 students are enrolled in under graduation courses and 20,278 post graduation as of 2020-21.

Students from Jammu and Kashmir who are studying in other states are also affected. There have been reports of assaults and harassments against Kashmiri students in other states after the attacks. The resident commission under Jammu and Kashmir government has launched a helpline numbers for outstation J&K students.