The J&K government on Friday (August 22, 2025) announced the takeover of the management of 215 schools run by the Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT), a body affiliated to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) that was banned in 2019.
An official order said the validity of the Managing Committee of 215 schools of the trust had expired and that the schools “have been reported adversely upon by the intelligence agencies”.
“In order to safeguard the academic future of the students enrolled in these schools, it is hereby ordered that the Managing Committee of the 215 schools shall be taken over by the District Magistrate (DM) or Deputy Commissioner (DC) concerned,” an order issued by the J&K School Education Department said.
The order said these DCs and DMs shall propose a fresh Managing Committee, duly verified, in due course for the schools concerned.
The process to take over the schools, spread in 10 districts of the Kashmir valley, will start this week, officials said.
In the past, the FAT had taught both the Islamic and the modern syllabus proposed by the Board of School Education, Kashmir. The FAT schools were found not only in the cities but in most towns and villages across J&K.
The fresh government order has directed “all necessary measures to ensure quality education as per National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) norms in these schools”.
The DMs and the DCs were also ordered they take “appropriate steps in consultation and in coordination with the School Education Department so [as] to ensure that the academic career of the students enrolled in these schools is not affected in any manner.”
According to the official order, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), after the ban order, identified a number of schools “found to be directly or indirectly affiliated with proscribed organisation Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)/Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT)“.
On February 28, 2019, the MHA — under Sub-section (1) of Section (3) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) — declared the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Jammu and Kashmir, as an unlawful association.
In 2022, the Lieutenant Governor’s administration barred these schools from fresh admission and registration. The students studying in these “banned” institutions were advised to enrol in nearby government schools for the 2021-22 session. One estimate suggested that over 11,000 students were enrolled in schools in J&K.
Published – August 22, 2025 10:10 pm IST
