Board, semester exams in J&K in Oct-end

SRINAGAR: The government in J&K will conduct board and college semester examinations from the last week of October even though students have not attended classes for the past two months since the Centre revoked state’s special status and split the region into two UTs on August 5.

Governor’s advisor Farooq Khan on Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the preparedness for the annual examinations of Classes 10 and 12 in Kashmir and winter zone of Jammu division. Another advisor to governor Khursheed Ahmad Ganai in a separate meeting of higher education asked the authorities to ensure the conduct of all ensuing university examinations before the onset of winters to save the academic year of students.

Khan directed the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE) chairperson Veena Pandita to work out a detailed schedule for the smooth conduct of board examinations.

“The chairperson informed that the examinations for Classes 10 and 12th classes are likely to start from the last week of October,” a government spokesman said.

The officials said that Section 144 barring assembly of people will be imposed around all examination centres. “Adequate deployment of police personnel shall be made to avoid public interference in order to uphold the sanctity of the examinations. The police department shall also ensure facility of communication and transmission of urgent messages during the course of examinations,” the spokesman said. Schools, colleges and universities were closed on August 5 as the government imposed restrictions on movement of people and blocked phone calls and internet when the special status of J&K was revoked and the region split into two union territories. So far the government’s attempts to open schools, colleges and universities have not succeeded in getting students to attend classes.