JKBOSE tags students from 180 schools with lapsed affiliations

Srinagar, Feb 5: The J&K Board of School Education (BOSE) has tagged “on-roll” students of 180 more private academic institutions of Kashmir operating on proprietary land with “expired affiliations”.

As per the JKBOSE order, the schools failed to furnish their extension case file which prompted the JKBOSE to tag the students of these institutions with the nearby government schools.

As per the JKBOSE order, the decision has been taken to safeguard the academic career of on-roll students of these private academic institutions as the board has to complete all the pre-examination related activities including entertainment of examination forms, preparation of centre notices, attendance sheets, admit cards, and other allied confidential material of the ensuing class 10th to 12th annual board examinations in a time bound manner.

The order in this regard has been issued by Deputy Secretary JKBOSE citing the expiration of affiliation of private academic institutions of the Kashmir division in October 2021 and 2022, coupled with the failure of the concerned management to submit the requisite case files for further extension with necessary certificates, safety documents, in terms of standing rules and norms.

“To safeguard the academic career of their on-roll students, sanction is hereby accorded to the tagging of on-roll students of class 10th, 11th and 12th with the nearby government high and higher secondary schools and cluster head schools in Kashmir division,” reads the order issued by Deputy Secretary J&K Board.

This is the second list issued by J&K BOSE wherein it has announced tagging of students of the private schools established on proprietary land, with “expired affiliations”.

“The concerned principals and cluster heads after securing necessary discharge certificates of the concerned students shall authenticate and submit the permission-cum-admission (PCA) forms

of class 10th, 11th 12th and Renewal Registration Returns, as the case may be, with the normal prescribed fee, as per the notifications issued by the Director Academics J&K BOSE," the order reads.

As per the order, the concerned private schools have been asked to remit a tagging fee equivalent to the periodical inspection fee for the current academic session 2023-2024, as prescribed by the Director of Academics.

“Further, the defaulter schools are admonished not to enrol any students in class 9th to 12th as the case may be from the next academic session 2024-2025, without securing formal affiliation and recognition from the J&K Board and School Education Department,” the order reads.

Among other schools, the government has also withheld the registration renewal of the class 10th to 12th students who are scheduled to appear in the upcoming Board exams.

The registration has been withheld due to the non-renewal of its land lease agreement.

Notably, Saint Joseph's Higher Secondary School Baramulla was established in 1905 in Baramulla town and is one of the oldest missionary schools working in Kashmir.

Following this, the management of the schools has informed the parents of the class 10th to 12th students that the land lease agreement of the school expired in 2018 and it had applied for renewal of the lease to the authorities at the right time.

“The file is pending in the office of the divisional commissioner Kashmir since April 2022, and we have also approached the office of the J&K Lieutenant Governor in this regard," the school principal in a notification said.

The principal said that the NoC of the concerned Revenue Department was sufficient to renew the affiliation of the school but could not evoke any response from the concerned department despite repeated appeals from the school management.

"So the students and parents are being hemmed in dishevel and despondence due to the inconvenience caused by SO 177. The school management and parents association further appealed in time to the Principal Secretary Revenue, Principal Secretary of School Education and Chairman BOSE, for permission to register the students," the letter reads.

It reads that in a joint effort to come out from the forlorn situation, the LG's office had issued a kind direction to the Principal Secretary Revenue and Principal Secretary Education in December 2023.

"Even that could not evoke any action to register the students provisionally for the Session 2023-24 or to renew the lease period till date," it reads.

The Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) expressed its deep concern and profound disappointment regarding the closure of Registration Return Forms (RRFs) by J&K BOSE.

"The registration denial to students of the prestigious Saint Joseph's school Baramulla, an institution with a 100-year legacy, has sent shockwaves through the entire education community in Kashmir. If such an established institution can be targeted, then it seems no one is safe," Chairman PSAJK Ghulam Nabi Var said.