Uniform Academic Calendar: Academic Experts, Students calling it a wrong decision
Process will reduce time to prepare for entrance exams : Students
Like other parts of the country, now in Kashmir, the class 10th and 12th examinations will be held in March. Earlier, these examinations used to be held in Kashmir in October and November. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has now issued an order for a uniform academic calendar. It said that a committee was formed in April which recommended that the board exams be held in March in Kashmir as well. The government, however, has not issued any order for the students up to class 9.
Following the state school education department’s order on Wednesday, students of class 12 expressed disappointment and said that this decision will reduce their time to prepare for entrance exams. “The target for them is that after class 12 they used to prepare for NEET and other entrance exams, but now we will get less time to prepare for the entrance exams,” a class 12 student said.
Academic experts are calling it a wrong decision, while private school associations say the service providers have not been taken on board. The class 10 students, however, seemed satisfied with the decision. They said that they will now get enough time to prepare for the exams. Those who used to sit at home in winter after the exams will now prepare for the exams during that time.
“It is quite a good decision and now we will prepare well for the exams, although in winters we used to sit at home waiting for the results and now that won’t happen,” says Muzamil, a class 10th student. “We will give exams in March and prepare well in winter,” he told News18.com.
On the other hand, the president of the private school association, GN War, found this decision incomplete. He said that government did not take stakeholders on board. He said that “the government has given the decision, but those who have to implement the decision have not been placed in the committee. As there will be a shortage of electricity and other facilities, the government should have taken the stakeholders on board so that a good decision could have been taken. In the March session, there will be a lot of trouble in Kashmir because of the weather.”
Meanwhile, the academic experts also said that the decision would prove wrong for the students’ future. They said that “if the students appear in the exam in March, they will sit at home for the whole year, because it is very cold in Kashmir and everyone stays at home for three months. Besides, when the children appear in the exam in March and then will be at home again by June waiting for the results, when will they study?” They added that the government needs to reconsider this decision so that the education of the students in Kashmir is not adversely affected.
Alok Kumar, principal secretary to government, school education department said that the decision had been taken for the bright future of the children. He said that in the winter, teachers would educate children through digital platforms as everyone has been digitally trained during the Covid-19 pandemic. There will be uniformity, and examinations will be held simultaneously; students will also get time, and the evaluation will increase.
He further said that through this decision, the students would also get extra 200 days of classroom studies. “Those who are not happy with the decisions of the government, they will oppose and it is their job to do so, and if they think of a right future for their children, they will not oppose.”
