Why Kashmir's Education Needs Iqbal Again

Education in Kashmir is changing. New policies bring new terms, structures, and expectations. Teachers sit through training sessions, and schools revise formats.

But amid this constant adjustment, a deeper question remains unanswered: what is education meant to do for a young Kashmiri mind?

In the rush to modernise, our education system has begun to overlook the thinkers who once shaped our moral and intellectual compass. Their ideas are treated as history lessons, rather than living guides.

Allama Iqbal is one of them.

The Poet of East is often remembered as a versatile versifier to be quoted instead of a thinker to be engaged with.

But his ideas speak directly to the very questions our classrooms are struggling to answer today.

Most of us grew up hearing his verses from parents and grandparents. His poetry lived in our homes, prayers and public life.

Today, he rarely appears in serious discussions on education.

We are not short on modern ideas. What we lack is the habit of connecting them to our own intellectual tradition.

The National Education Policy 2020 talks about holistic learning, critical thinking, creativity, skill development and moral grounding.

These ideas are presented as new. They are not. Iqbal spoke about them long before policy documents existed.

If teacher training programs in Kashmir created space to discuss thinkers like Iqbal, education would gain depth and direction.

Winter training sessions often focus on methods and paperwork. They should also ask a larger question: what kind of human being should education produce?

Iqbal's answer was clear. Education must build self-awareness and confidence. It must create learners who think independently and act with purpose. In one famous verse, he says: You are a falcon, flight is your task / There are many skies still ahead.

Beyond an image, the falcon represents ambition and self-belief.

Iqbal wanted students who aim high and refuse to settle early. NEP 2020 also speaks of flexibility, choice and lifelong learning.

Both ideas push students to grow instead of staying boxed into narrow paths.

Iqbal warned against comfort that weakens the mind.

In Bal-e-Jibril, he criticizes those who choose safety over effort. He praises the open desert because it strengthens character.

The message is simple: growth demands struggle, learning requires effort, and education cannot be reduced to marks alone.

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