Srinagar, July 3 -- In Kashmir's government schools, a troubling question often lingers in the staff rooms: Why try harder when your promotion depends only on how many years you've stayed in the job?

For decades, the education department in Jammu and Kashmir has treated promotions as a waiting game.

A teacher joins the system, stays long enough, and automatically climbs the ladder, regardless of how well they teach, how much they grow, or how many students they actually inspire.

It's a system that doesn't care about performance. It cares about seniority. And it's quietly draining the life out of our schools.

When you look around Kashmir's classrooms today, you can see the result. Some teachers still push boundaries. They work hard to ...