The future of thousands of students in Jammu and Kashmir is hanging in the balance as the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE) has refused to accept class 10th examination forms from students enrolled in private schools established on state land.
This move has sparked concerns and raised questions about the board’s actions in defiance of a stay order issued by the J&K High Court against a government directive from the previous year.
The predicament began after the J&K government in 2022 amended the rules under the Education Act 2002 to provide for fresh guidelines relating to the use of land and building structures by private schools in Jammu and Kashmir.
The amendments were made by the J&K Lieutenant Governor (LG) in the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules, 2010 in exercise of the powers conferred by section 29 of the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Act, 2002.
In the wake of this, the J&K government ordered that all those private schools which are established on the State land should close the schooling of the enrolled children with immediate effect.
The schools were asked to issue the school leaving certificates in favour of their respective students so that they would be accommodated in nearby Government schools “subject to the consent of their parents in this regard”.
However, the private school proprietors collectively approached the judiciary and sought relief from the J&K High Court, securing a stay on the government’s order.
Despite this legal intervention, the refusal by JKBOSE to accept examination forms for class 10th students enrolled in these private schools has thrown the academic aspirations of thousands into jeopardy.
The President of Private Schools Association Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) Ghulam Nabi Var termed the board’s action surprising and said on what grounds the JKBOSE was not accepting the forms of students enrolled in these schools if the High Court has already issued a stay to the government order.
“Approximately 2 lakh students, including orphans and underprivileged children, are enrolled in these schools established on state land,” he said.
Var said that the matter was sub judice and the government at this juncture should allow the students of these schools to appear in the annual board exams.
“Otherwise the future of these students will be at stake,” he said.
The submission of examination forms for class 10th students commenced on November 29, 2023, but the JKBOSE’s refusal to accept them has left students and parents in a state of uncertainty.
A JKBOSE official admitted that they were not accepting the examination forms of students enrolled in the private schools established on state land.
“The matter is sub judice and we are not accepting their exam forms. The higher-ups in the JKBOSE might have taken up the matter with the administrative department about the issue as it concerns the future of thousands of students,” he said.
However, the JKBOSE official said that the students need to be facilitated and should be allowed to appear in the examination.
“We can extend the deadline for submission of examination forms but the government should take a call on it,” he said.
An official at the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) acknowledged that the J&K High Court had stayed the government order.
“The Administrative Department is the respondent number one in the case and we have communicated the developments to them. But there has been no communication in this regard,” the official said.
