Make March-session a permanent feature: Wani to Government
Srinagar, Oct 27: A committee governing functioning of private schools in Kashmir Sunday announced mass promotion of students up to class 7th.
The Coordination Committee of Private Schools Association (CCPSA) announced they will grant mass promotion to all students up to class 7th and urged the state government to make the March academic session a regular feature of academic calendar.
The CCPSA announced the decision at a press conference here after holding a meeting of the amalgam comprising representatives from various walks of life including private school owners, businessmen, teachers, parents and other stakeholders.
The committee passed a resolution that mass promotion will be granted to students up to 7th class with immediate effect.
“After floods there is anxiety and dilemma among students about their future. They are confused whether they should read text books of next class or same syllabus till March which they have almost completed,” said Central Coordinator, CCPSA, DrMushtaq Ahmad.
He said: “On the insistence of parents and after thorough deliberation with stakeholders and civil society, the coordination committee of private schools decided to give mass promotion to students from Nursery to 7th Class based on their previous performance/term-end achievements to classify under-average, average and above-average students.”
He added: “This will give a direction to the entire education sector. Now students and teachers know where to start and what to read. After completing all formalities, the promoted students would start their next classes by November 01, 2014 in their respective schools.”
Pertinently, the state Cabinet has decided that annual examinations shall be held in March 2015 instead of October-November 2014.
President, Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum, Abdul QayoomWani, said: “Now that the government has deferred exams to March, we demand they should stick with the March session and make it a permanent feature; otherwise we will compelled to come on streets. We can’t allow them to waste precious time of our students,” he said, adding that March session “suits our students as it would make them more equipped to compete not only at national level but at global level as well.”
Wani said: Government should devise an Education Policy to give proper direction to the education sector in Kashmir. The government should use civil secretariat building for rehabilitating flood hit people instead of putting them in damaged school buildings.”
Wani appealed the civil society to come forward and save the education sector “from vested interests who want to make it a political fodder.”
“It is good that private schools have decided to grant mass promotion upto class 7th,” he said.
Speaking at a conference organized by CCPSA, the Kashmir Economic Alliance Chairman ShowkatChowdhary said the Alliance will put forward all the demands of the CCPSA before the state and the central government.
During the press conference, the CCPSA announced its affiliation with KEA and State Economic and Rehabilitation Forum (SERF) to press for its demands at a bigger platform.
Member Bar Association, Advocate G N Shaheen also spoke on the occasion and termed the current education policy as flawed, “which needs a thorough review.”