While the J&K government is adamant on holding Class 10th and 12th examinations in November, students on Tuesday continued with their protests against the move and sought deferment of the scheduled tests till March next.
Scores of students assembled at Srinagar’s Press Enclave and threatened to boycott the examinations if the government didn’t postpone these till March 2017.
“We won’t appear in the exams,” the protesting students said, and shouted slogans against the state government.
The students slammed the government’s decision to “thrust exams” on them, saying “when atmosphere in Kashmir is not conducive for by-polls, how it is conducive for students to appear in exams?”
The J&K government has reportedly approached the Election Commission of India to seek deferment of by-polls to Anantnag parliamentary segment, citing “ground situation” in Kashmir.
“Government has a contradictory stand on the issue of examinations. In 2014, they postponed exams to March to freely campaign for the then elections. Today, if they say the atmosphere is not conducive for elections, how can they hold the examinations in the same atmosphere?” asked President of Private Schools Association, G N Var. “This simply means that the government wants to use students to show ‘normalcy’ in Kashmir.”
Academician Prof Tariq Ahmad Chalkoo too questioned the move to hold the examinations amid government’s assertions that atmosphere was not congenial for elections in Kashmir.
“It is important to provide a right kind of atmosphere to students to sit in the examinations. Students should not be under any threat as mental solace and comfort are significant for them at this stage,” he said.
A number of students said they were “disappointed” after meeting Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here on Tuesday morning, saying “she (CM) was least bothered about the students and said it hardly bothers the government if we don’t appear in exams.”
The students said the Chief Minister didn’t pay any heed to their “genuine” grievances and asked them to get prepared for the examinations scheduled in November.
“She had no answers to our grievances but made a mockery of students saying she passed class 12th exams while relishing ‘Gol Gappas’; so why can’t we?” the students said.
They accused the government of taking them for granted. “The government is least bothered about the students’ future but just wants to thrust their decision on us,” the students, who have been hitting the streets almost daily, said.
“Our demands are genuine. We can’t appear in exams in a situation when 60 percent of our syllabus is incomplete and we have not attended any practical classes,” the students said, while holding a protest at the Press Colony after their interaction with Chief Minister.
The students said the government is hell-bent on holding the exams in November to “portray normalcy in Kashmir while sidelining the real situation on ground.”
“The government is least bothered about the career of students. The CM herself humiliated the students and disrespected the female students as well,” the students alleged.
“Instead of being adamant on holding the exams in November, they should first release all the students who are in jails so that they can also prepare for the tests,” the protesting students said.
Earlier the students had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister seeking deferment of exams till March.
“Soon after the government announced 10th and 12th class date-sheets, students found themselves in a bewildered state as the situation around them has hardly given them any room for preparations,” reads the memorandum. “Students are in a complete mental distress due to the sad events which took place during the last three months and are not psychologically ready to go ahead and prepare themselves for the exams scheduled to be held in November, 2016.”
The students in their memorandum have however opposed the government plans to “give concession” in the specified syllabus, saying “it will prove detrimental” and that “we can’t compete at national as well as international level exams.”
The students appealed to the government to postpone the exams until March next year, saying it will “relieve students of mental trauma and at the same moment give them more time to prepare for annual exams and other national-level competitions as well.”
