Srinagar, Nov. 18 -- Around 50 per cent government teachers are ruling the roost in some 550 private tuition centers packed with 60,000 students across the valley at the moment.

THE bar put on private practice of government teachers has triggered a new debate in Kashmir with jobless youth calling it a "much-needed window of opportunity", even as the official teachers dismissed the move as "a dangerous trend".

The directive came on Friday, when Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Government, School Education Department, said that no government teaching faculty shall undertake any activity or assignment including teaching in a private educational institution or coaching center, "unless he or she obtains prior permission from the compet...