Winter chill forces rethink on schooling in Kashmir

Updated on: Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The bitter cold in the Kashmir Valley has forced authorities to ponder about closing the winter schooling that was started to make up for the classes lost to months of unrest here earlier this year.

“It has almost been decided to close down the schools in the valley from January 1 as the extreme cold is making it difficult for the students to reach their schools on time,” a source in the government said.

Questions have also been raised by the state finance department on the "wisdom" of the decision to continue Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 as their annual exams have already been held, the sources said.

“What use is the fanfare generated about winter schooling in Kashmir? It was not for fun that schools remained closed during winter months ever since modern education was started here in the 1880s during the rein of Maharaja Pratap Singh,” said Gulam Nabi, a retired headmaster.

"Holding classes in sub-zero temperatures is neither possible nor feasible. Classrooms might be equipped with heating stoves, but what about the students who have to reach schools in sub-zero morning temperatures?" he asked.

"The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 5.2 degrees Celsius," an official of the weather office said.

Winter chill forces rethink on schooling in Kashmir

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