All educational institutes in the Kashmir valley and the winter zone of Jammu are ready to welcome all students back after the winter break. Schools have been closed for more than two months. The luscious bowl valley lies in the extreme northern parts of the country, due to which we are experiencing harsh winters with the arrival of December. Winter begins every year on the 21st of December and ends on the 21st of March, or I can say winter begins with the arrival of the 40-day harsh period known as “Chillai Kalaan for two months.” The luscious bowl valley lies in the extreme northern parts of the country, due to which we are experiencing harsh winters with the arrival of December. Winter begins every year on the 21st of December and ends on the 21st of March, or I can say winter begins with the arrival of the 40-day harsh period known as “Chillai Kalaan.” The period is very harsh, hard, and unpleasant for the people of the valley. During these 40-day periods, every individual keeps themselves warm by taking different kinds of traditional noon chai and kangri (an earthen fire pot) and spends most of the time in their homes. People used to sit in hammams in the winter to wash their hands and faces and bathe in warm water. So it is very difficult for the children to get out of their homes, and their parents keep them inside to avoid common flus, fevers, headaches, etc. During the winter, the people of Kashmir suffer financially, and the prices of essential household commodities rise in all ways. To minimise the educational loss, teachers give home assignments to their pupils and stay in touch with them through different mediums, like taking online classes and providing relevant material, to keep them sticking to their studies even during the winter vacations. The educational institutes remain closed only for the students, as the teachers remain present in the schools as per the schedule framed by the school administration to issue students scholarship-related documents, date of births for the enrolment of their Aadhaar cards, and scholarship-related documents. During the winter, teachers attend different training sessions at the concerned DIET (District Institute of Education and Training). The Directorate of School Education holds various programmes for the upliftment of the students, like winter coaching, supers 50, and coaching classes for the students who are preparing for the undergraduate competitive exams like UG-NEET, JEE mains, etc.
The government administration in Jammu and Kashmir has now shifted the academic session from October- November to March. This winter, students were preparing for the upcoming final or term 2 exams. The concerned boards and DIETS have already released date sheets for the coming examinations. The examination for the 8th grade has commenced as of the 27th of this month. The Directorate of School Education directed all the school heads to hold exams in the month of March 2023 and, after that, start new classifications for the new academic session, which is 2023–2024. From now on, students have no issues and feel at ease carrying on with their academic sessions. Teachers are eager to meet their dear students after winter vacations and are making arrangements at the school. Teachers were completely occupied with decorating the school grounds and classrooms. All the chief education officers (CEOs), zonal education officers (ZEOs), cluster heads, and HOIs (heads of the institutes) are making the possible arrangements for the reopening of the schools and are eager to get started on their tasks with new sunshine. In 2020, the government unveiled a new education policy. NEP-2020. The highlights of the new education policy are as follows: The NEP will replace the 10+2 curriculum structure with a 5+3+3+4 curriculum structure. The new system calls for 12 years of schooling, followed by three years of pre-schooling (anganwadi). The age range of 3-6 years is widely acknowledged as critical for a child’s mental development. The new education policy focuses on five pillars: access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability. After the completion of final exams, the educational institutes will resume their new classification and offer new admissions in different classes.
(The author a resident of Raiyar Budgam is pursuing PG in Environmental Sciences. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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