After seven months, students back to schools in Kashmir

Schools in Kashmir reopened on Monday after remaining shut for nearly seven months following the abrogation of Article 370, much to the delight of students and their parents.

On the first day of the reopening of the schools, thousands of children dressed in uniforms resumed the academic activity amid bright sunshine in February. After staying home for seven months, the students were eager to go back to school.

“I want to see my classmates, as I cannot wait to reach school," Ayaan Parray, a student, said while waiting for his school bus on the outskirts of the city in Buchpora.

Tariq Ahmad, a parent said politically and economically, Kashmir lost a lot since August 5. “But the loss of precious time to students is something which can’t be retrieved. I hope and pray that from now onwards educational institutions are never closed like this,” he told DH.

“I have kept the uniforms of my children ready. They also had a haircut. I just hope that things remain calm now,” Ahmad hoped.

Feroz Ahmad, a teacher at a prestigious missionary school in Srinagar said they have prepared a warm welcome for the students. “They (students) should feel enthusiastic coming to the schools after almost seven months,” he said.

All educational institutions across Kashmir were closed when Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 and put the region under a security lockdown and a communication blackout. Though the restrictions were subsequently eased, a spontaneous shutdown against the decision had continued in the valley for months.

As the situation started improving, the schools were shut again on account of winter break on December 10. However, this time the schools were reopened at least 10-days earlier on account of winter vacations.

Due to closure of schools, the J&K government had announced a mass promotion for all students to the next level in November last year except for 10th, 11th and 12th standard students who appeared in annual board examinations.

There are some 13,800 schools across the valley where some 1.2 million students study.

Director Education Kashmir, Younis Malik said from this session, the number of academic days has been increased under the Right to Education. “From 180 academic days earlier, now we will have 200 days for primary and 210 days for upper primary classes,” he said.

An official of the School Education Department said, previously the schools had remained closed continuously for eight months from July to March in 2016 when summer unrest broke out in Kashmir following the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

In 1990, when militancy erupted, schools remained shut for five months from December 1989 to May 1990. “Back then, the schools couldn’t reopen on March 1 after winter break as the insurgency was at its peak. The schools opened on May 15, 1990, and again in September that year the schools had to be shut as the government employees went on a strike for 72 days,” he recalled.