There are different indicators used to determine the quality of life in a region, education being one such key indicator. It plays a vital role in determining the human development index (HDI) in any region. Education and development go hand in hand and are proportional to each other. Also, education leads to development and vice versa. As far as education is concerned, disparities occur at every level be it global, national or regional level. A deeper analysis shows that disparities exist even at grassroots level. Same scenario is seen in India s well. Disparities exist at various levels of educational development and efforts are on to reduce this disparity at each level. Government from time to time comes out with policies and strategies to bridge this gap and it is yielding better results but lot more still needs to be done. The present study is aimed at district Anantnag, J&K. In terms of educational development, the district is not satisfactorily developed. This study analyses the zone wise structural educational development of the district and categorizes them into moderately developed, less developed and least developed. A number of indicators have been used to rank the respective zones with the help of Kendall’s Rank Order Method.

1. Utkal Historical Research Journal, ISSN : 0976-2132 Vol.-XXXV, No-4 (I), April 2022 43
STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND DISPARITIES IN EDUCATIONAL ZONES: A ZONE WISE
ANALYSIS OF DISTRICT ANANTNAG, J&K.
Harris Bin Salam
Email id: Harrisshah302@gmail.com
Rafiq Ahmad Dar
Email id: Rafiqahmad478@gmail.com
Abstract: There are different indicators used to determine the quality of life in a region, education being one such
key indicator. It plays a vital role in determining the human development index (HDI) in any region. Education
and development go hand in hand and are proportional to each other. Also, education leads to development and
vice versa. As far as education is concerned, disparities occur at every level be it global, national or regional level.
A deeper analysis shows that disparities exist even at grassroots level. Same scenario is seen in India s well.
Disparities exist at various levels of educational development and efforts are on to reduce this disparity at each
level. Government from time to time comes out with policies and strategies to bridge this gap and it is yielding
better results but lot more still needs to be done. The present study is aimed at district Anantnag, J&K. In terms
of educational development, the district is not satisfactorily developed. This study analyses the zone wise
structural educational development of the district and categorizes them into moderately developed, less developed
and least developed. A number of indicators have been used to rank the respective zones with the help of Kendall’s
Rank Order Method.
Key Words: Education; Development; Disparities; Kendall’s Rank order; structural Development.
Introduction: Regions are not developed equally. There is unequal level of development among different
regions owing to physical, social, cultural and political factors. Some regions grow rapidly, some gradually
while some lag behind. Development of education is the key force in enhancing development of a particular
region. In one way or the other impacts different sectors of the economy, be it agriculture, industry, trade and
commerce etc. It is one of the important indicators that determine the growth and well being of people at
particular place. Besides, education also reduces poverty, unemployment and decline of which signify growth of
a region and hence development as rightly portrait by Dudley.
A far as education is concerned, disparities exist from lower to higher level. This scenario is severe in under
developed and developing countries. India is one such country facing disparities in education at various levels.
These disparities have both natural and human causes. Besides physical forces, socio- cultural and political factors
also result in unequal educational development of a region.
The present work is focused on district Anantnag, J&K. the district is not satisfactorily developed in terms of
educational structure. This study would help in identifying different educational zones of the district and their
level of development.

2. Utkal Historical Research Journal, ISSN : 0976-2132 Vol.-XXXV, No-4 (I), April 2022 44
Study Area
The present study is aimed at district Anantnag. It is one of the important districts of the U&T and lies some 53
kilometers from capital city Srinagar towards south. The coordinates of the district are 33°21'57” N to 34°21'13”
N latitudes and 75°09'39” E to 75°44'36” E longitudes and elevation of 1601 mts. The district has a total area of
3574 sq. kms. District Srinagar lie to its north, Kargil to its north east, Pulwama and Kulgam to its west. While
Doda Kishtwar and Ramban to its Southern and South -West land strip respectively. The total population of the
district is 1078692 and is divided into 12 tehsils. In terms of education the district ids divided into 12 educational
zones. The overall literacy of the district is 62.69% (2011).
Objectives of the Study
1. To study the structural development and levels of disparities and in the district.
2. To categorize the educational zones on the basis of educational development.

3. Utkal Historical Research Journal, ISSN : 0976-2132 Vol.-XXXV, No-4 (I), April 2022 45
Database and Methodology: Data has been collected from secondary sources. Zone wise figures about different
indicators used in the survey are collected from office of the Chief Education Officer Anantnag. To analyze the
spatial variation and to find out the variation in educational development, Kendall’s rank order method has been
used.
Indicators Used: X1 – Number of Govt. and private primary schools. X2 – Number of Govt. and private middle
schools. X3 – Number of Govt. and private high schools. X4 – Number of Govt. and private higher secondary
schools. X4 – Number of Govt. and Private Colleges.
Kendall’s Rank Order Score Method: With the help of available data of each zone of the district, an attempt is
made to assess the development of education and existing disparities. The indicators have been set up, assigned
their values and are given ranks as per Kendall’s rank order Score Method. on this basis ,average of each zone
has been estimated and zone scoring maximum average rank fall under least developed category and vice versa.
Comparative analysis of different zones is made to find unequal development and disparities among educational
zones.
Analysis and Discussion: Different factors like physical, social, economic, political are responsible for
disparities in development of education sector in the study area. On the basis of indicators used in the table below,
structural levels of educational development and disparities have been calculated. These selected indicators of
education and their composite index gives the present status of different educational zones in the district. This
study is divided into three categories to explain inter zone inequalities in development of education setup.
Table-1
Structural Development and Disparity in Educational Zones
Name of Zone X1 X2 X3 X4 X5
Achabal 69 78 27 10 0
Aishmuqam 68 72 15 5 1
Anantnag 62 83 34 16 5
Bidder 79 74 14 6 0
Bijbehara 65 80 23 11 2
Dooru 45 76 17 8 2
Mattan 77 58 20 7 1
Qazigund 44 73 13 5 1
Shangus 87 88 19 9 1
Srigufwara 92 75 16 4 0
Vailoo 70 68 11 3 2
Verinag 41 57 9 2 1
Source: Author’s own calculation

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Table-2
Kendall’s Rank Order Score Method
Name of Zone X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 Total Rank of Educational Indicators Average Rank
Achabal 6 4 2 3 12 27 5.4
Aishmuqam 7 9 8 8.5 8 40.5 8.1
Anantnag 9 2 1 1 1 14 2.8
Bidder 3 7 9 7 12 38 7.6
Bijbehara 8 3 3 2 4 20 4
Dooru 10 5 6 5 4 30 6
Mattan 4 11 4 6 8 33 6.6
Qazigund 11 8 10 8.5 8 45.5 9.1
Shangus 2 1 5 4 8 20 4
Srigufwara 1 6 7 10 12 36 7.2
Vailoo 5 10 11 11 4 41 8.2
Verinag 12 12 12 12 8 56 11.2
Source: Author’s own calculation
Moderately developed blocks: Four (04) zones fall under this category viz. Anantnag, Bijbehara, Shangus and
Achabal. The average range lies between 2.8 to 5.4 these four zones are comparatively better developed than rest
of the zones, owing to location, facilities, better infrastructure and large number of educational institutions set up
in these zones. Anantnag zone leads the group followed by Bijbehara, Shangus and Achabal zones.
Low developed blocks: Four (04) zones have been identified in this group viz. Dooru, Mattan, Srigufwara and
Bidder. Average range lie between 6 to 7.6. On the basis of indicators used in the study these zones are not
satisfactorily developed. They lack resource and infrastructure. Zone Dooru is comparatively better as compared
to other zones in this zone. Being far away from the district headquarters and zone of its area is unevenly located.
This restricts overall development in the zone. Mattan zone is very close to Anantnag. It acts a buffer besides
most of its area does not have proper accessibility and its topography is difficult. Srigufwara and Bidder Zones
are located far off from the district headquarter. These zones lack basic facilities and their location is not feasible
which results in low educational development.
Low developed zones: Aishmuqam, Vailoo and Verinag are least developed. In these zones, population is scarce
and is located at the extremes of the district. These zones are hilly, have rough and intricate topography and lack
basic facilities like roads, school infrastructure etc. this is another factor responsible for least development of
these zones.

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Conclusion: Table-1 and table-2 show that there exists unequal development among different educational zones
of district Anantnag. Zone Anantnag ranks 1st
in educational development because of its ideal location and
urbanized setup. Bijbehara too is moderately developed. It is easily accessible, ideally located and has resource
availability. Shangus and Achabal too have moderate educational development.
Dooru is somehow developing gradually but most of the area in the zone is unevenly distributed, hence not
satisfactorily developed. Mattan acts as buffer and most of its area being hilly results in unequal development of
education. Srigufwara and bidder are located far off from the district headquarters and their natural position is not
so feasible, that results in hindrance in development. Aishmuqam is gradually developing but lack of natural
advantage has hindered its educational growth. Vailoo and Verinag are extreme zones and their topography is
somehow hilly and rugged resulting in least development.
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