99% students appear for Class X exam in J&K: Report

Amid the ongoing shutdown and clashes, around 65,000 students in Kashmir appeared for the Class X annual examination on Tuesday, according to a report by The Indian Express.

“Ninety-nine per cent students (in Kashmir) appeared in the exams today. There is no report of any untoward incident,” J&K Board of School Education (BOSE) chairperson Veena Pandita told newspaper.

The shutdown to protest scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status entered its 85th day on Tuesday.

Pandita said that the board had set up 615 centres across Kashmir, and everything went smoothly even as Section 144 was imposed outside the examination centres.

According to the report, worried parents were seen waiting outside the centres while the examination was in progress. “There is so much uncertainty in Kashmir. There was stone-pelting in the old city, and we had to walk several kilometres to reach the exam venue,” said Sajad Ahmad, a parent outside Srinagar’s SP Model Higher Secondary.

On Tuesday evening, a statement from the administration stated that around 65,000 students of Kashmir Division and 24,000 students of Winter Zone Jammu Division appeared for Class X examination, for whom 615 and 296 centres, respectively, were set up.

The Class XII examinations for students appearing for J&K Board began on Wednesday.