Govt indecisive about winter vacations

While the authorities are indecisive about winter vacations in Kashmir schools, the management of private schools and parents feel winter schooling could compensate academic loss of the past months.“The students have already suffered a loss of four academic months since August 5 and if the Director of School Education Kashmir will announce winter vacation, it will add miseries to the students and they won’t be in a state to compete with students of other states,” said a parent, Manzoor Ahmad. He said previously, the DSEK adopted the tactic of utilising holidays as working days to compensate the losses.However, for this academic session, authorities seem to be least bothered about the future of students.The education institutes remained closed for around four months after August 5, and during that time even the management of private schools provided students with assignments and video lessons in view of the safety measures of the students.Another parent said a large section of students is studying in private schools and the government must allow them to continue winter schooling.“Most of the private schools are willing to provide heating and other facilities during the winters. As far as such facilities are concerned, the government has failed to install heating and other facilities in the government schools,” he said.President of Private School Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK), G N Var said, “If the government is giving us liberty and not indulging in administrative matters, we will continue with winter schooling at various places.”He said some teachers were on winter vacation and if they call them, they would ask us for salaries and for that purpose, they would need to scharge heating and nominal stationary charges from students. “We don’t want students to suffer.”Director of School Education Department, Kashmir (DSEK), Muhammad Younis Malik said, “Once the provisional admissions for new classes are over, we will think about winter vacation. As of now we haven’t decided anything.”Malik said the department was distributing textbooks and other stuff among the students for the new session. “Practical exams of 11th standard on going on as well,” he said. “Private schools are being governed by DSEK and if the government will announce winter vacation, it will be for both private and government schools.”Malik said both the government and private schools could do winter schooling. “We will see if we can allow them to continue,” he said.