Stakeholders call for biometric attendance in Higher Secondary schools to curb dummy admissions
Srinagar, Dec 11: With the culmination of the annual examination of the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE) for secondary classes, stakeholders have expressed their concern over the bogus admissions in higher secondary schools.
The teachers revealed to Greater Kashmir that most of the students enroll themselves in the government higher secondary schools for class 11th and 12th while they remain physically present in the private coaching centres.
The teachers have demanded that biometric attendance should be made compulsory for the students enrolled in the senior secondary classes to curb the ongoing practice of the dummy admissions.
"As the class 10th JKBOSE exams are over, the students who opt for science stream enroll themselves in different coaching centres and never attend their schools," the teachers said.
They said these students manage dummy admissions in schools, supported by the heads of the institutions to showcase the "Fake" pass percentage of the schools.
"The trend is going on for the last many years only to show the fake pass percentage in JKBOSE results. The department is aware of the fact but no action is being taken against the school heads to allow this practice," the teachers told Greater Kashmir.
The teachers said that the majority of the students shift from private schools to government schools after qualifying their class 10th JKBOSE exams only to manage bogus admissions.
"In private schools, there is a proper check on absenteeism and students are not allowed to follow any such practice of managing dummy admissions. So they get admission in government higher secondary schools only to join private coaching," they said.
The teachers said introducing biometric attendance in higher secondary classes of government schools can do away with this practice.
Earlier this year, the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) has tightened its noose against the high and higher secondary class students over skipping regular classes in schools.
A circular was issued to all school heads and made it mandatory to strictly maintain attendance records of students in classes 9th to 12th.
Citing the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, DSEK said that consistent classroom attendance was crucial to achieve the vision of competency-based learning, hands-on activities, peer engagement, and teacher-student interaction.
"National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) envisions education not merely as academic instruction but as a holistic journey nurturing students' intellectual curiosity, emotional intelligence, creative expression, ethical awareness and social skills," the DSEK circular said.
The DSEK said that a number of students of classes 11th and 12th were skipping regular classes and the trend was spreading to class 9th and 10th as well.
"This is a matter of serious concern as it will impact to achieve the objectives of student development as envisioned by NEP-2020," it reads.
The Directorate stated that the regular school attendance was mandatory and the school curriculum was designed to provide comprehensive learning and "missing classes can create significant gaps in a student's effective learning."
The heads of the schools were asked to ensure strict enforcement of student attendance in all government and private recognised schools through VSK attendance Chatbot, Aadhaar based attendance.
The school principals were instructed to ensure that practical classes in science subjects are conducted regularly as these are crucial for hands-on learning.
The schools have been warned of strict action for non-compliance and may attract disciplinary action as warranted.
Despite the instructions from the department, there is a growing trend of dummy admissions in schools, raising questions on the accountability and implementation of the government instructions.
