Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Mar 1: The three-month-long winter break came to an end with the onset of March, and students across Kashmir, colourfully dressed, were today spotted excitedly making their way to their respective schools.
Early in the morning, the students were seen waiting for their school buses at their respective stops accompanied by parents, while there was quite a rush of private vehicles which had come to drop the students outside the schools.
The students inside the schools were seen meeting and greeting their teachers and fellow students, lining up for morning assemblies and reciting the prayers. It was a busy day not only for the students but for the parents and teachers as well. The schools started at 9 in the morning and ended at 2 pm as per the new timings issued by the DSEK.
As per officials, nearly 13, 000 schools-10,800 Government-run and nearly 2550 privately-run-started their functioning today after the winter vacations came to an end.
“The schools have reopened and I am jubilant; I was feeling bored at home and now that we are back to school, it feels good; more so, due to the March session which has now been implemented, we don’t feel under pressure and it adds to the feeling of happiness,” Samia Ashraf, student of class 9 at Modern Public School, Balgarden said.
While the students expressed their happiness, they, at the same time, said that they feel bad that they are going to continue with the same class due to the change in the academic session.
“What used to happen normally is that soon after the winter vacations would end, we used to have new books, ready to join the new class, but this time, it is the opposite; we will have to continue in the same class,” said another student Safina.
Bariya Mustafa of class 7 at Ingenious School, Malla Bagh in Srinagar while expressing her joy over the start of the school said that it is a great start full of fun and excitement.
“Regardless of how much we study at home, attending school is a different experience. I was eager to rejoin school for the last few days. I couldn’t wait to put on my school clothes once more,” she said.
With the start of schools, the city road also witnessed an increase in traffic rush while at several spots across the city, in the morning as well as in the evening, traffic congestion was also observed.
Concerning the plying of school buses in the city centre, Lal Chowk, the Traffic Department had directed the Tyndale-Biscoe and Mallinson Schools to operate their buses from the Rajbagh side and avoid plying buses through the city centre during school hours.
It is to be noted here that on November 25 last year, the Directorate of School Education, Kashmir (DSEK) declared that all schools in Kashmir and the winter regions of Jammu Division would be closed gradually from December 1, 2022, until February 28, 2023.
At the elementary level, for students up to the fifth standard, winter vacations were declared from December 1 to February 28. For grades 6 through 8, winter vacations were announced from December 12 to February 28, while the vacation for the students of secondary and senior school levels was declared from December 19 to February 28.
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