The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education on Thursday rescheduled the annual regular exams of Class 11th in soft zone areas and examinations of Class 10th, 11th and 12th in hard zone areas.

According to the news agency KNO, BOSE Director Academics in a notification said that it received directions from the Joint Chief Electoral Officer of J&K (Jammu) regarding the schedule for the conduct of Lok Sabha Election 2024, requesting therein to ensure that no date of examination clashes with the dates of Election with respect to the UT of J&K.

JKBOSE said that the National Testing Agency is conducting the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2024, Session 2 from April 4 to 15. It said that the JKBOSE has received scores of representations from the students for rescheduling of Board exams in this regard.

“In view of the issue, all the concerned are informed that the upcoming examination of Class 11th annual regular 2024 in Soft Zone and Annual Regular 2024 examinations of classes 10th, 11th, and 12th in Hard Zone Areas have been rescheduled and that said examination shall be now held on rescheduled dates in two sessions, that is morning and evening shift,” it reads.

JKSCERT issues revised date sheet for 8th standard

The Jammu and Kashmir State Council of Educational Research and Training (JKSCERT) on Thursday issued a revised date sheet for the Middle Standard Examination for soft and hard zones of session 2023-24.

According to the news agency KNO, the examination in both soft and hard zones will commence on April 2 and will culminate on April 15. JKSCERT said that the timing has been preponed from 11:00 am to 10:00 am for the commencement of the Middle Standard Examination 2023-24.

It suggested the students take their examination at the already notified examination centres on the above dates well in time. The candidates were further advised to carry admit cards on all days of the examination for verification.

“The Complex Heads shall ensure that all the SOPs for the conduct of examination are followed in letter and spirit,” JKSCERT said.

SRINAGAR — The Jammu and Kashmir State Council of Educational Research and Training (JKSCERT) on Saturday rescheduled the annual examination dates for the 8th standard.

According to the news agency KNO, JKSCERT said that the exams in the soft zones will commence from March 13 and will culminate on April 2.

Similarly, the JKSCERT said that the exams in hard zones for the 8th standard will commence from March 26 and will culminate on April 10 respectively.

Earlier, the exam was supposed to be held from March 5.

SRINAGAR — The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has developed and designed a comprehensive "Syllabus cum Academic Calendar" for the academic session 2023-24, which includes the foundational stage, and the classes 1 to 8 in the schooling system of Jammu and Kashmir.

The syllabus is in accordance with the latest guidelines and instruction manuals issued by NCERT, New Delhi, and is aligned with the NEP-2020 to improve the quality of education, which aims to shift from rote learning to competency and experiential-based learning.

After four months of rigorous effort by experts from NCERT and SCERT, the new syllabus maps the learning outcomes with the contents of the prescribed textbooks of the J&K Board of School Education. In a remarkably short span of time, Jammu and Kashmir has become the first Union Territory to create such a comprehensive document, outpacing all other states and union territories in the country.

The exercise took place under the guidance of Professor Parikhshat Singh Manhas, Director of SCERT and Fayaz Ahmad Fayaz, Joint Director of the Central Move Office, a group of academic officers and resource persons from the Assessment Cell of the Education Research Survey and Assessment (ERSA) division of SCERT.

The syllabus aims to enhance the quality of education in Jammu and Kashmir by shifting the focus from rote learning to competency-based and experiential learning. The syllabus is in sync with the latest guidelines and instruction manuals issued by the NCERT, New Delhi, and is aligned with the NEP-2020.

The new syllabus also aims to provide teachers with the flexibility to plan their classroom activities in a meaningful and productive manner, keeping in mind the Learning Outcomes suggested by the NCERT and NEP-2020.

“The Learning Outcomes are a set of expected knowledge, skills, and values that students should acquire at the end of each class or level,” Joint Director, Central Move Office, Fayaz Ahmad Fayaz, said. “These Learning Outcomes are designed to ensure that students have a holistic development and are prepared for the challenges of the 21st century,” he added.

The syllabus, he said, emphasizes the importance of inclusive education and provides teachers with the knowledge and skills to create an inclusive classroom environment.

“Inclusive education refers to an educational approach where all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, are provided with equal opportunities to learn and succeed,” Fayaz said. “The syllabus provides teachers with diverse material and non-material resources to make inclusive education a reality. These resources include tactile diagrams/maps, talking books, audio-visual materials, Braille, etc.”

For children with special needs (CWSN), the syllabus emphasizes the importance of providing appropriate resources and support. The syllabus provides teachers with guidance on how to use these resources to support the learning needs of CWSN. These resources are designed to ensure that CWSN have equal opportunities to learn and succeed.

The document is available in parts on the website of the SCERT for easy access by teachers, students, and parents.

With the introduction of the new syllabus, it is hoped that it will enhance the quality of education in Jammu and Kashmir, and help students develop the skills and competencies needed for success in the 21st century.

SRINAGAR — Jammu and Kashmir State Council for Educational Research and Training (JKSCERT) is likely to announce results of 8th standard on April 10.

A top official informed the news agency KNO that the results have been prepared and all the processes have been completed. “We have completed all the requisite processes and most likely, the results will be announced by April 10,” the official said.

It also said that the academics will be started immediately in a week’s time after the announcement of the results.

Pertinently, the examinations of the 8th standard commenced on February 27 and culminated on March 10.

Meanwhile, the official also said that the Annual Transfer Drive (ATD) for teaching staff of the School Education Department will take some time to start. “The ATD will take some time to start and when everything will set, we will open the online links accordingly,” the official said.

On asking about the disparity of working hours in schools in and out of Srinagar Municipal limits, the official said, "We will decide soon the new timing for the schools falling under Srinagar Municipal limits."

It is pertinent to mention that the timing for government and private schools in Srinagar Municipal limits usually used to be from 9 AM to 3 PM in April while outside the Municipal limits, it used to be 10 AM to 4 PM.

However, the government recently announced that the working hours in schools in Srinagar Municipal limits would be from 9 AM to 2 PM while the timing for schools outside Municipal limits remained unchanged, resulting in one hour of disparity.