Children missed school for a year in Kashmir

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 3

It has been a long holiday for schoolchildren in Kashmir. From post-Article 370 abrogation restrictions to Covid lockdown, Kashmiri children have missed school for almost a year.

The extended school closures have raised stress and anxiety among the children, who have been worst sufferers over the years due to the turbulent situation in Kashmir.

The schools in Kashmir were shut in August last year when the Centre scrapped the J&K’s special status and imposed strict restrictions and communication blockade. In September last year, the government had announced the reopening of schools in Kashmir but the students had stayed away.

This year the schools opened for a brief time but were closed soon as the pandemic spread. And over 12 lakh school-going children in Kashmir have been staying home for a year.

According to the health experts, the year-long lockdowns are adding to psychological problems among children.

Dr Syed Karrar of the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) in Srinagar said closure of educational facilities are known to have implications on behaviours of children.

“It gets worse if it is prolonged amid uncertainties in the backdrop of conflict. Routines of children have been disrupted and families find it overwhelming at times to engage with the children. Many children reported school refusal syndrome and anxiety disorders after brief resumption of school activities in the first week of March. It was compounded by the pandemic and narrowed down the opportunities for socialisation processes for optimal development of personality structures,” Karrar said.

The IMHANS is using online portals to reach out to the distressed children.

After the Covid lockdown, the J&K Government started online learning for the students. The low-speed Internet since last August is hampering those plans and adding to the anxieties.

“There is surely anxiety among the children, but we are exploring each and every possibility to reach out to students through online classes,” Director, School Education, Muhammad Younis Malik said. “We have been successful to a large extent,” he said.

Academic loss

• The schools in Kashmir were shut in August last year when the Centre scrapped the J&K’s special status and imposed strict restrictions and communication blockade.
• In September last year, the government had announced the reopening of schools in Kashmir but the students had stayed away.