Srinagar: Dozens of private schools in Kashmir have resorted to a novel ‘home based exam’ to evaluate students as they missed out on class work for more than two months due to continuous shutdown in the valley.
Normal life continues to remain affected in Kashmir since August 5 following the abrogation of Article 370 with parents reluctant to send their kids to school.
The home based exams are an alternative introduced by schools to replace final examinations, which they difficult to conduct in the current situation.
Schools have been informing parents through newspapers to collect assessment papers of their wards.
For instance Crescent Public School, Naseem Bagh Srinagar has informed parents through a newspaper advertisement to collect assessment papers for their wards studying from KG to class 9.
It also informs parents of 10th and 12th class students to collect pre-board and model papers between October 12 and October 15.
Similarly, Kashmir Harvard Educational Institute, Habak has published a detailed schedule of home exams asking parents to strictly adhere to the dates.
“Home examination is something which we have never expected. But, it’s better than mass promotion as it shifts the responsibility on parents and home tutors,” said Nisar Ahmad Bhat of Batmaloo.
“We take this as a challenge and hope things change for good soon,” he said.
Another parent Fehmeeda of Solina told Kashmir Reader that assessment system introduced by private schools must be appreciated.
“The results of this exam may be subjective but it will make the children accountable and give them chance to improve upon the curriculum,” she said.

Manzoor ul-Hassan