March Session a permanent feature: Dir Education

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Director School Education Kashmir, Tariq Ali Mir said a Cabinet decision that examinations shall be held in March “is a binding on all education institutions operating in the state and those violating the orders will be dealt as per law.”
“The cabinet order has made it amply clear that academic session will start from March and exams will also be held in the same month. The November session has been deferred to March and it will continue to remain so in future. The cabinet order does not mention that exams will be held in March only for this academic year. It is also not possible to conduct exams in November again once these are held in March-April session,” Mir said.
He said the cabinet order has not only deferred exams to March in Kashmir Valley but in all the other zones of the State. “It has been done to bring uniformity in educational calendar of the state; otherwise only few districts were hit by floods.”
He said the March session will be a permanent feature in academic calendar of the state “unless the cabinet modifies or changes the order.”
“Barring JK, rest of states have March session in place,” he said, adding, “After the devastating floods in Kashmir last month the government decided to defer all exams from Primary to Higher Secondary level as many students are without books and schools buildings have been declared unsafe in flood-hit areas.”
On announcement of mass promotion by private schools till class 7th, Mir said non-government schools cannot take cabinet orders for granted and their announcement has no validity.
“They cannot supersede or modify cabinet decision as per their sweet-will; they have to abide by the law otherwise their registrations will be cancelled,” he warned.
“All private schools affiliated with JK government have to follow the official orders; they cannot supersede cabinet decision to suit their interests,” he said, adding “Announcing mass promotions upto class 7th is against the spirit of schooling.”
Pertinently, the Coordination Committee of Private Schools Association (CCPSA), a forum claiming to govern functioning of private schools, Sunday announced mass promotion till class 7th after a meeting of its members.
“Zonal Education Officers have already been intimated to inform private school owners in their jurisdiction not to violate the government orders,” he said, “Parents should also take into consideration that mass promotion given to their wards has no validity.”