Voices grow louder against tagging of students in Kashmir

Srinagar, Dec 17: Voices are growing louder against the government's decision to tag students from private schools facing land issues with nearby institutions. The decision, aimed at addressing non-compliance with State norms, has sparked widespread concern among private school bodies and students. Besides the private school bodies, other stakeholders have also raised their apprehensions over the move, saying that the decision would have a bearing on the psychological framework of the students, as they are attached to their respective schools psychologically and emotionally as well.

"The government should consider the psychological attachment of the students with the schools and provide some relief to the students while giving a timeframe to all these schools to complete the pending formalities," said a school functionary whose school file has been under process with the administration for so many months now. The school functionary said that the students share a close bond with their schools and tagging them with any other school would hurt the students.

The concern has been raised amid the government statements that certain private schools were not able to fulfill the norms set by the State, resulting in the suspension of their affiliation and registration. In the wake of this, the Education Department decided to tag students of these private schools (defaulting schools) with nearby schools and allow them to appear for class 10th exams. "But the move will not be in the interest of the students because they have studied in the private school of their own choice and now after spending so many years in the schools, they will be handed over marks cards of some other schools which will have its repercussions," said a noted educationist, who wished not to be named.

There are examples also wherein the land titles are mixed and maybe a portion of land is State land while the major portion of the land under schools is the property of the schools. "There can be one solution in such cases that the government can retrieve the portion of state land and allow the school to function smoothly," he said. In some cases, some schools were provided with a small portion of land by the government in the 1960s, following which the school proprietors bought new land as their property. But there is uncertainty about these institutions as well.

Meanwhile, the Private Schools Association Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) has opposed the tagging option, saying that it was a “sinister design” to bulldoze private schools and crush their space in the education sector. “On one side, there is an issue related to state land while on the other hand, there are problems due to insufficient state land. Also, No Objection Certificates (NoC) have been stalled,” President of PSAJK, Ghulam Nabi Var said. “Approximately files of 450 schools are pending and in this scenario if J&K Lieutenant Governor will not intervene then almost all these 450 schools will get closed.” He said that the schools were being targeted under a conspiracy, as the meaning of tagging was that these schools would be closed. "That's why we have raised our voice and even four benches of the High Court have given clear directions to the government to issue the RR of schools, but the orders of the High Court are not being respected,” Var said. He said that in this context, the association had no other option but to file a contempt petition. "This is an issue of over 2 lakh students who will be affected by tagging," he said. The Kashmir Schools Federation (KSF) has also opposed the tagging option, saying that BOSE cannot stop the students of these schools from appearing in the class 10th examination from their respective schools, as they have already accepted the Registration Return Forms (RRF) of these students in class 9th last year.

Advisor to Lieutenant Governor Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, who heads the Education Department, told Greater Kashmir that the students were being facilitated to appear in the examination and the schools should adhere to the rules and regulations. “Sufficient time was provided to all the schools. We are exploring practical solutions, but simultaneously, it is essential to comply with the established rules. The effort is that no students should suffer,” Bhatnagar said. Regarding the psychological attachment of students to schools, he said that the proper procedure should be followed. "We are not discouraging any particular school. They should follow the procedure, submit all required documents on time, and, as far as possible, we will accommodate the students," Bhatnagar said. On whether tagging was the only solution left, he said: "I cannot say so, but the current focus is on ensuring that children do not suffer. That is our primary objective.