Kashmir

‘It Feels Entirely Different’: Students in Kashmir to Go Back to School After Seven Months

Srinagar: The customary morning prayer had just ended and the students were still standing in rows at this private school in Srinagar. With surprised looks on their faces, the children talked in hushed voices to their friends. They were meeting after a gap of seven months. Meanwhile, the principal of the school, Masarat, addressed the students and made an announcement which baffled them all—mid-term exams would be held next week.

The schools in Kashmir valley reopened on February 24, after a gap of seven months. Schools were shut since August 5 when the Centre scrapped Article 370 that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of J&K and bifurcated it into two union territories.

The students of this school, situated in the uptown Sonwar locality of Srinagar, were among the 1.2 million children of 13,800 schools of Valley who had been confined to their homes since August 2019. In Kashmir, as the din of winter is breaking into spring, people are trying to pick the threads of the usual business.

The schools, too, have reopened. However, after remaining away from classes for nearly 180 days, the students in Kashmir are trying to get hold of routine which was the norm before August 5—getting ready in the morning, attending classes, doing homework. What was once normal for these students now seems ‘surreal and abnormal’. Somewhat same is the case with the teachers.

For 13-year-old Samiya Muzzafer, the time away from school has been ‘frustrating’. “Each morning, I would wake up every morning with the hope of getting news that schools have been opened,” she says, “But every day would end in disappointment.” All this while at home, she says she has missed her classmates and best friends—Zeenat, Sanjoot.

“I would be confined to my home mostly. There was nothing to do” Samiya says. The teenager reveals that there were times she would cry in solitude and would often look at her school uniform, longing to wear it.

“The uniform would bring a smile on my face. It would remind me of my school, friends and the moments that I missed,” she says. Samiya, like many other students, had started self-studying when the schools were closed. However, she was waiting for her school to reopen.

When finally it did, she was so happy that she says she literally danced. “I was on cloud nine,” she says. But the excitement faded when she went to school on February 24. The thrill had disappeared.

“I feel entirely different in class. It is difficult to concentrate on studies,” says Navjoot Singh, another student. Students say they are enjoying the school, but not the same way as they did earlier.

The teachers were aware of the fact that staying away from classrooms would have an effect on students and hence tried to keep them engaged with assignments, a task which may seem impossible owing to the crippling communication lockdown in the Valley.

Masarat, the principal of the school, says that the school gave the assignment to the students through newspaper advertisements as communication lines were gagged.

“In order to keep them engaged and in touch with the studies, we decided to give them assignments at home,” she says.

The school administrations and the students are now faced with the task of maintaining a proper timetable and completing the syllabus on time. With the syllabus piled up, the teachers are faced with the challenge of mental toll that the lockdown has had on students.

“The lockdown affected the students’ mental and physical health,” says the the principal of the school. “The challenge for the teachers is to get them back on track now,” Masarat says, adding that the students have become lethargic.

In November last year, the J&K government announced a mass promotion for all students to next classes without holding exams, except for 10th, 11th and 12th class students.

The closure of schools for months due to unrest is raising questions on the impact of the situation on the education sector of the Valley.

This is not for the first time that schools have been shut for months at a stretch in Valley. In 2008, schools remained shut for few months after turmoil over Amarnath land transfer issue and in 2010 over alleged fake encounters and subsequent killing in protests. In 2016, the schools remained closed from July to March following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.

“Our school’s yearly schedule got disturbed. It is not easy to work again like we used to. It is worrying how the situation is affecting our students and the education system,” says one of the teachers at a private school.

To finish the syllabus hurriedly or to provide counselling to the students, the school administrations are faced with tough choices.

“If a child stays at home for at least three months, the IQ is reduced by 70 percent,” says GN War, the head of Kashmir Private Schools and Coaching Centers Association, while quoting a survey related to mental health in children. He says that it is a challenging task for teachers in Kashmir to work and compensate the losses at the time when there is so much pressure from the administration.

“Our aim is to get them out of this trauma now as they have spent so much time alone at home without any school curriculum activities,” he says.

The mental health experts in Valley, too, are worried over the effects of lockdown on children. Dr Syed Karrar Hussain, a neuropsychiatric doctor at Srinagar’s SMHS hospital has been receiving a growing number of such cases over the past few months.

“This type of situation shrinks the opportunities for socialisation processes for optimal development of personality structures among children,” he says. “Closure of educational facilities is known to have implications on the behaviors of children.”

Dr Hussain says that children’s mental health get worse when schools are shut for a prolonged period of time amid uncertainties in the backdrop of conflict. Many children report school refusal syndrome and other anxiety disorders,” he says. However, the stigma attached to mental health complicates the situation further as people are reluctant to seek help.

“Children in Kashmir who are suffering due to the prevailing situation need immediate counseling,” says Dr. Kaiser Hayat, a mental health counsellor based in Srinagar.

“The parents do realise (the condition of children) but most of them do not take them to a doctor or psychologist. It is because of the societal pressure,” he says. (News18)

ANN News

ANN News is the first and only 24*7 Tv News Channel of Kashmir, having its headquarters at Srinagar. ANN News is available on all leading cable Networks, Also Available On JIO Tv , Vodafone,TataPlay , Candor Network, Dailyhunt and other leading Platforms

Leave a Reply