Educational Inclusion by facilitating Access of the Girls at Margins: Exploring their Enrolment status in KGBVs of Jammu Division

Jammu and Kashmir is one of border state of India lies in the extreme North of India which has suffered a lot in education sector since past 27 years due to armed conflict. The girls’ education has been poorly affected by the violence during this period. Besides violence, there are various other aspect like physical topography of the region, conservatism, attitude and orthodox thinking of the parents, lack of proper educational infrastructure lack of guidance, illiteracy of parents have also impeded female literacy in Jammu and Kashmir. Girls’ education has come under sharp limelight under Sarva Shikha Abhiyan (SSA) which is a centrally sponsored flagship scheme for the universalization of elementary education. Under SSA, a scheme of providing residential schooling facilities to the girls known as Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) has been started. It is a scheme for setting up residential schools at elementary level from (6^th to 8^th class) in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) for out of school girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minorities and below poverty line or physically challenged categories. Where students can acquire both academic as well as vocational knowledge. The primary concern of the present paper was to explore enrolment status of KGBV of Jammu division and the secondary concern of the same was to find out whether the KGBVs’ of Jammu division are fulfilling the purpose mentioned in the framework i.e. educational inclusion of marginalised girls.