Parents stage protest over common curriculum in schools

Baramulla, Apr 18: The parents of children enrolled in different private schools of north Kashmir's Baramullla district on Thursday staged a protest against the government decision to adopt common curriculum in government as well as private schools across Kashmir.

The parents assembled in Sopore town to raise their voices against the government decision and said the textbooks prescribed by JK Board of School Education (BOSE) were not updated for years together.

"When we look at the content published in the JKBOSE textbooks, it is outdated and implementing the same textbooks in schools will prove costly for the overall development of students," a group of parents said.

The parents while quoting the New Education Policy (NEP)-2020 said the students falling in the age group of three to eight years have been declared as foundational stage but contrary to it, the textbooks framed by JKBOSE are not meeting the standards.

"We urge the concerned authorities to go through the content of the textbooks and see where are we laying our foundation," the parents said.

As already reported, the JKBOSE has made it mandatory for private schools to adopt JKBOSE prescribed textbooks for all classes from the current academic session to ensure common curriculum in schools.

However, the JKBOSE has failed to ensure adequate supply of textbooks in market leaving the students at the receiving end.

Besides the non availability of textbooks in market, the parents have voiced their concern over the quality and the content of these books.

Earlier, various videos went viral on social media which highlighted the shortcomings of JKBOSE in framing the textbooks for school children.

Such instances raised concern among the parents over the quality and standard of the books prescribed by the JK Board.

Notably, the JKBOSE has warned the private schools of action as per law, for defying the government order of adopting textbooks prescribed by the Board.