SRINAGAR: With class work failing to resume in the valley schools amid shutdown, a leading CBSE affiliated school has come up with home based examination for students, perhaps a first by any school here.
The Delhi Public School, Baramulla through a notice advertised in newspapers has asked students to collect annual examination papers of all subjects, and submit the answer sheets by October 20.
“The school is ready with the annual exam question paper of all subjects and all classes from Nursery to IX and XI,” the notice said. “Also, the pre board question papers for classes X and XII are ready.”
“Parents are requested to contact the school and collect the papers from 11:00 am to 02:00pm on all working days. Answer scripts of these papers are required to be submitted to the school exam dept by 20th of October strictly,” it informed.
The notice did not explain the procedure further, and the school authorities could not be contacted for a comment. The novel method would, however, be a first of its kind, perhaps not adopted by any school in the last three decades of turmoil in Kashmir.
Schools across the valley were closed by state government on August 5, as Government of India abrogated special constitutional status of J&K. A few weeks later, the government made attempts to throw schools open in phases, but the efforts did not bear fruit in the wake of public shutdown and a communications clampdown by the government.
Last week the government directed opening of all government and private schools, including higher secondary schools in the valley, but the directive did not have any significant impact on ground.
An official of the School Education department said that student attendance had picked up slightly at schools briefly in the two months of shutdown due to government efforts, but declined again, to marginal numbers. He did not to comment on the move of DPS Baramulla as “it does not fall under our domain”.
A senior educationist told Kashmir Reader that in early 1990s, when anti-India insurgency broke out in Kashmir affecting all activities, students were given mass promotions some times. However, a home based examination system was not explored.
In the last ten years, when public uprisings were witnessed in some years in Valley, interrupting schooling, like during 2008 Amarnath land row, the examinations, even if delayed, were held.
Same was the case with the years 2010, 2014 and 2016, when academic sessions were interrupted either by uprisings, or flood, but the examinations were held.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz