J&K classes X, XII need to answer only 50% questions

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has announced a 50% relaxation in syllabus for Class X and XII students but kept the examination dates unchanged, offering a partial relief to students hit by ongoing unrest, which has forced schools to remain shut for the last four months.

The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education will conduct Class X examinations from November 15 while Class XII examinations will begin a day earlier, although the students had demanded deferment of examinations till March 2017.

“We have kept in view the difficulties students faced due to the situation here and designed the pattern of relaxation accordingly,” JKBOSE chairman Zahoor Ahmad Chatt said. Question papers have been prepared as usual, but the students will have an option to attempt any 50% in each subject.

The chairman said the examinations have already been delayed for more than a month from the normal schedule and the dates cannot be changed only for the benefit of some students.

“We cannot delay the examinations as many students have to prepare for the competitive exams at national and international level. We cannot play with the career of students,” Chatt said. “There are many areas which remain cut off for many months due to snow, so the exam has to be conducted before the winter vacation,” he said.

Currently 55,000 students are enrolled in Class X while 50,000 students are enrolled in Class XII in the valley. After the government announced that it would conduct exams in mid-November, students, parents and civil society blamed the government for doing politics on education.

They said chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was using examinations as a tool to bring semblance of normalcy in Kashmir.