As the Jammu Kashmir Board exams for classes 10 to 12 are scheduled to commence from March 3, the students of Khaipora, Tangmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district are concerned about the examination centers which, as per them, have been set up 12 kilometers away from the village.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the students while demanding the examination centers for the upcoming board exams at Higher Secondary School Khaipora said the already proposed centers are at a distance of 12 km from the tehsil headquarters Tangmarg. They said the area is inaccessible due to a lack of transportation services.
“The centres for the exams have been set up at Katipora which is inaccessible as the area lacks proper transport facilities. In addition, Katipora is an isolated forest zone. Students who are going to appear in the exams will have to walk on foot and there lies every apprehension of wild animals attack,” they said.
Manzoor Ahmed, a local resident said, “For just a few students, the board has neglected the roll of 300 students at Higher Secondary Khaipora and proposed the examination centres at the far-off places which would cause great inconvenience to the students who have to be there from snow-bound areas.”
We fail to understand why the authorities have set up the centres so far even though the Higher Secondary School Khaipora qualified all the parameters of the examination centre, Ahmed said, adding that the majority of the students belong to the poor community and can’t afford the huge convenience fare to reach the Katipora examination centre.
The students and well as parents said that they had taken up the matter with the SDM Gulmarg, CEO Baramulla and others concerned, but to no avail. “If authorities fail to establish a centre at Khaipora, none of the students would appear in the upcoming exams as we can’t risk the lives of the children,” they added.
They have appealed to the Lieutenant Governor, board authorities, district administration and other concerned authorities to look into the matter as soon as possible, so as to avoid the losses of the precious year of the candidates who have to appear in the exams.
Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Baramulla, CL Sharma could not be reached for comments.
Notably, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of State Education announced the date sheets for annual/regular examinations for classes 10th, 11th and 12th. The exams for Class 10 and 12 are scheduled to begin from March 03, while for Class 11 from March 06, 2023—(KNO)