The Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department has decided to implement an uniform academic calendar. The annual examinations for classes up to class 9 will now be held in March. The decision was taken to streamline the academic calendar in schools with the rest of the country.
The schools of the two regions so far followed the practice of having summer and winter zones and had different academic calendars based on climatic conditions. The schools begin the new session in April-May in Jammu, while in the Kashmir division, students appear for final exams in October and the new session begins in November every year.
“Sanction is accorded to the implementation of Uniform Academic Calendar including conducting the annual examinations in March-April session for classes up to 9th standard in all the Government and Government recognized Private Schools of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the principal secretary of the school education department, Jammu and Kashmir, Alok Kumar told Free Press Journal.
This will also affect the admissions from the next session as the department further ordered that new admissions must commence from the month of March of the calendar year. The decision primarily affects academic session in Kashmir since Jammu already adheres to a March session, barring some areas of the Pir Panjal region.
Earlier this year, the government of Jammu and Kashmir announced that the class 10th and 12th examinations will be held in March. It said that a committee was formed in April which recommended that the board exams be held in March in Kashmir as well.
The Class 12 students expressed apprehension and said that the target for them is that after 12th they used to prepare for NEET and other entrance exams, but now they will get less time to prepare for the entrance exams.
Academic experts are calling it a wrong decision, while private school associations say the service providers have not been taken on board. The class 10 students, however, seemed satisfied with the decision. They said that they will now get enough time to prepare for the exams. Those who used to sit at home in winter after the exams will now prepare for the exams during that time.