Reduce syllabus to lessen examination stress among students, virtual classes not a substitute to structured schooling: JKAP’s Ashraf Mir

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) senior leader and former minister Mohammad Ashraf Mir on Saturday asked the J&K government to go for reduction in school curriculum especially for Board examination to ease the stress on students in view of the COVID-19 emergency.
Addressing a meeting of workers of Sonwar-Srinagar constituency at party office in Lal Chowk, Mir said that the objective of reduction in school syllabus should be to lessen the exam related anxiety among students besides preventing learning gaps in the middle of COVID emergency situations. “There is a dire need to address the concerns of the student community who could not go to their schools due to COVID lockdown since March 18. The Board of school education should go for immediate reduction in the syllabus of 10th, 11th and 12th classes and similarly the State Institute of Education should also evolve a mechanism to address the concerns of lower classes,” he demanded. Besides JKAP president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, the meeting was attended by other senior leaders also. Stressing on Board of school education to curtail the syllabus for all subjects in a very methodical way, Mir said that the chapters of many grades are framed in a sequence and the Board should maintain the coherence in curtailed syllabus so that the students are not confused by the relaxation. “The virtual classes can never be a substitution for formal and structured schooling where students learn through teacher-student interactions. Besides, we cannot cram all the portions of syllabus on the students in a short duration of online classes that too are held on snail’s speed of mobile internet,” he added. Stressing on the need for holding exams through Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) mode Mir said that the process will not subject students to sit in the exams centres for long durations. “The government should constitute a high level committee to examine all these issues facing the students’ community.”
He said the government must address the concerns of the student community and particularly the parents who feel seriously depressed for the loss of teaching hours of their wards during the COVID pandemic. “Many students especially in rural areas in Kashmir valley have been deprived of online class facility because of unavailability of smart phones coupled with snail’s speed of mobile internet which has further increased the worries of their parents,” Mir observed.