An offer of 50 % reduction in syllabus by the government saw students in Kashmir coming out of their homes to take the board exams despite schools remaining closed for more than four months
After months of uncertainty, students of class 10 and class 12 took their exams in Kashmir despite schools remaining closed for almost entire academic calendar.
|| ARIF GULZAR
In view of the uprising that went on for over four months, there were apprehensions around the government’s decision to hold the exams in time. But the things have gone smoothly so far and more than 95 percent students from both the classes have taken the exams. Under normal circumstances the exams would have passed culmination of yet another academic calendar without grabbing any attention. But amid the ongoing unrest in the Valley, when educational institutions have remained closed for over 120 days, the loss of schooling and the government’s decision to go ahead with the exams were among the most debated issues in the Valley. In the run up to the exam, at least 35 schools were torched by arsonists, making the challenge of holding the tests even tougher for the state authorities. There was an argument put forth that since the students couldn’t get adequate time to attend to schools and complete the required syllabus, holding of the exams would be an “illogical exercise”.
The state education department had in September announced to hold the exams that had forced students out of their homes seeking deferment of the exams till March 2017. The issue, however, snowballed into a political controversy when Hurriyat leaders led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and civil society as well backed the students demand, accusing the government of exploiting the situation to give a fake sense of normalcy in Kashmir by forcing students to come out of their homes and sit in exam center. The government didn’t yield to the pressures and decided to go ahead with its decision. But it made a surprising offer to students: to hold class 10 as well as class 12 exams twice – in November and in March 2017. The offer didn’t end there. The students who were ready to write exams in November were offered a 50% reduction in the syllabus, while those who opted for March got no such offer.
In the end holding of the exams that had brought government and the students at logger heads turned out to be the right decision, though many questions remained unanswered. On November 15, the second day of exams, the figures collected by State Board of School Education (BOSE) the exam conducting body – from all ten districts of Kashmir showed that majority of the students had preferred the November option. Of the total 56,277 students, 98.63% of students (55,500) had appeared in their class 10 exams on November 15. Pulwama in South Kashmir, which has been the epicentre of the ongoing unrest, saw the highest percentage of the students (98.87%) taking exams. The overall turnout of the students was 4% higher than those who gave their class 12 exam on November 14– of the 31,964 students who had enrolled for the class 12 exams, 30,213 (94.5%) had taken the test. But behind this large turnout of the students for taking the exams, both the students as well as parents came up with different explanations. For Musaib Ahmad, a class 10 student, an evaluation concession for taking the exams in November was the reason for most of the students picking up the November option. “I chose to write the exams because it was an easy option provided by the government. It was like a shortcut to go to the next level…I don’t think anybody could have afforded to miss such an opportunity given there has been no schooling during this year,” said Musaib of Chanpora. Like Musaib, thousands of students wrote their class 10 exams amid tight security arrangements and most of them came out of the centres jubilant, hugging and congratulating each other – a sight that will give much relief to the government. A parent who accompanied her daughter to the Kothibagh examination center said the government played with the career of the students by deciding to hold the exams in November.
In the end holding of the exams that had brought government and the students at logger heads turned out to be the right decision, though many questions remained unanswered.
“This relaxation in syllabus was like bait for the students who couldn’t resist. But the unfortunate thing is that in this controversy over exams, education and competence has become a victim,” said Muzaffar Ahmad who accompanied his daughter Mohsina to the examination centre. To a question that her daughter had the choice to take the exam in March next year, he responded: “The exam had become a battle of egos between government and Hurriyat, and you never know that the students who have opted for March might have to face tougher tests,” said Ahmad. There are concerns over the syllabus relaxation offered to candidates as well, with many teachers voicing concerns against such a move. A government school teacher from a higher secondary school in summer capital Srinagar, who did not wish to be identified, said it would “kill the competence and competition among the students”. The exams were however a challenge for the government on the security front as well.
Under normal circumstances the exams would have passed culmination of yet another academic calendar. But amid the ongoing unrest in the Valley, when educational institutions have remained closed for over 120 days, the government’s decision to go ahead with the exams were among the most debated issues.
A senior police official said that for the first time, an unprecedented security cover has been prepared for the examination centers across the Valley. Apart from few incidents of stone pelting reported at some exams centers the whole exercise has passed off peacefully so far. A senior police official said there has been a meticulous planning between the police and district education departments to ensure smooth conduct of the exams. Explaining, he said the police has set up a special control room at its main headquarter in Srinagar, where 30 to 40 men are in constant touch with the in-charge authorities at all the examination centres to get feedback after every 20 minutes. Then there is a separate group of policemen at the headquarters, connected to district police headquarters, police stations and offices of the district chief education officers and district magistrates. “This entire system keeps a track in and around the exam centres, so that in case of any exigency a decision is taken in no time,” said the police official, adding more than 10,000 personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF have been deployed for the exam duty.
