With student protests refusing to die down in the valley, the Jammu and Kashmir government is coming up with measures to pacify the students, sources said.

Jammu and Kashmir government has decided not to allow students to sit for their exams if they fall short of the required attendance, Indian Express reported quoting State Education minister, Altaf Bukhari.

 “Exams are starting in schools and colleges soon. If their attendance is low, they (students) will not be allowed to sit for the exams,” he was quoted by the national daily.

J&K Education Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari said he has instructed the authorities not to provide any relaxation in the rules.

“We will strictly adhere to the academic schedule, the session will be completed on time and exams will be held on time. I am not a votary of curtailing the syllabus to 50 per cent and then conducting the exams,” Bukhari told the paper.

Meanwhile the national daily quoting Director School Education in Kashmir Gulam Nabi Itoo said that the required attendance to appear in the exam is 90 percent.

“The issue was discussed at a meeting today… If a student does not meet the attendance criteria, he will not be allowed to sit for the exams,” he reportedly told the paper.

According to the news report, the minister said that if the students confined their protests to the campus grounds, it would not be a problem. “But when they come out of their campus, it becomes a law and order problem. I have been appealing to the students that they have a right to demonstrate, but that right is confined to within the four walls of the campus. The moment you leave the campus and protest on the roads, you are not students and it will be dealt with as a law and order issue,” he said.

Bukhari told the paper that the students were being “misled” and the government knew who was inciting them. “We know why these protests are happening. I don’t want to name them… do you think it so easy… one day, it happens in Magam, then in Handwara, and then in another area. They are being misled and they (students) have to understand this,” he said.

Meanwhile student protests refuse to die down in the valley since April 15. Protests are being reported on daily basis from the various parts of the valley. Authorities have closed many schools in the valley fearing more protests by the students.

Students have been protesting against the police and paramilitary forces action on the students in Degree College Pulwama and aftermath of the incident.

Guest