india

Updated: Aug 29, 2019 07:50 IST

High schools in the Kashmir Valley opened on Wednesday to poor attendance after being closed for more than three weeks in a lockdown enforced to forestall protests against the Centre’s decision to strip J&K of its special status.

Like pupils of primary and middle schools that had opened earlier, a majority of high school students did not turn up to attend classes. HT visited some prominent schools in Srinagar and found them deserted.

“No students have come. The teachers came in the morning and left around 12:30 pm,” said the gatekeeper of a prominent missionary school in Lal Chowk. Another missionary school in Sonwar, a VIP area, was also deserted, as was a girls school in uptown Raj Bagh.

SP Higher Secondary, a prominent government school in the city centre, has been taken over by central security forces. A security man opened a small window in the gate to answer a knock.“No student will be allowed. When we came here on August 5, Principal Sahib said that the school is not opening,” he said.

On Wednesday staff turned up at a middle school in Kothi Bagh, but a higher secondary school in the same neighbourhood was deserted. “We have opened from August 19 but no students have come to attend the classes. The situation is not good,” said a teacher of the middle school on condition of anonymity.

Until Wednesday evening, there was no official word on attendance in the high schools that were reopened. Most schools, including top private institutions, are still closed because the students haven’t come back.

According to officials, restrictions have been removed in more than 70 police station areas in Kashmir and staff and student attendance in schools has improved.