SRINAGAR: Many missionary schools, along with prominent private schools in Srinagar, have resumed classes, but only twice or thrice a week in the past few days. Parents and their wards have expressed happiness over this development as thousands of students remained indoors for the past four months following a clampdown in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. This development is considerably healthy given the recent grenade attack at the main gate of the University of Kashmir, injuring a few civilians.
Disruption in normal life is now prolonged with no sign of improvement in the Kashmir valley. The education sector has suffered the most in the past four months in Kashmir even after classes in some private schools have resumed classes from Class I to Class X here.
Recently, the Board of School Education along with private schools and other educational institutions held annual examinations, though classes had not been held and students had been given assignments at their homes to prepare for the annual examinations.
“Though Classes X and XII had their examinations, our foundation is weak because we could not attend classes for four months. The lack of internet is also hindering our studies in Kashmir,” Adil Ahmad, a Class XII student, said.
Amid the chaos, many coaching centres in Kashmir have been shifted to northern states. “Thousands of students have been forced to leave Kashmir to pursue their education due to lack of internet connection. We have been forced to shift our coaching institutes outside due to lack of any connectivity,” said Abdul Rehman (named changed), who recently shifted his chain of private coaching institutions to Himachal Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has issued notices to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Director School Education, Kashmir, in response to a PIL seeking court direction to private schools that they should not charge tuition and bus fees from the students for the past four months as the schools had remained shut.