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South Kashmir districts, which saw unprecedented violence this year, recorded the highest pass percentage as compared to other districts in the Valley as the J&K State Board of School Education (JKBOSE) announced Class X results for Kashmir division on Saturday evening.
Pulwama and Shopian, considered militant strongholds, recorded overall pass percentages at 84.5 and 83, respectively. They were followed by other districts in the Valley, a J&K government spokesperson said.
The pass percentage this year was 75.44, compared to 62.94 last year. The education board declared the results within a record time of 45 days, officials said.
Vineeta Pandita, the chairperson of JKBOSE, said that of the 55,472 students who appeared for the exam this year, 38,939 have been declared qualified. The pass percentage of boys and girls was recorded at 76.41 and 74.4, respectively.
The pass percentage in Srinagar was recorded at 81.9, followed by Kulgam (80.5 per cent), Anantnag (78 per cent), Baramulla (74.84 per cent), Ganderbal (73.16 per cent), Budgam (72.79 per cent), Kupwara (62.92 per cent) and Bandipora (62.26 per cent).
The pass percentage in government schools was the highest in South Kashmir districts. The J&K government said as per an analysis of results by JKBOSE, government schools have shown an improvement of 17.01 per cent this year while private schools have recorded a 1.9 per cent improvement over last year.
“The government schools have recorded an impressive pass percentage of 63.71, with 16,621 students out of 26,089 qualifying the exam from these schools. This is against the pass percentage of 46.7 last year,” the spokesperson said.
Among government schools in Kashmir, officials said that those in Pulwama took the lead with a pass percentage of 76.94 followed by Kulgam (74.96 per cent), Shopian (74.67 per cent), Anantnag (67.93 per cent), Srinagar (65.52 per cent), Baramulla (64.27 per cent), Budgam (63.38 per cent).
Dr G N Itoo, Director of School Education (Kashmir), told The Sunday Express that South Kashmir districts have shown “excellent results” despite students facing problems. “It is good news from South Kashmir,” said Itoo. “The students there are very hardworking. Pulwama and Shopian districts have topped in the overall pass percentage. We are hoping the same trend would be observed for Class XII results.”
Among those who qualified the Class X exam were Numan Ashraf Bhat, who was killed during clashes at an encounter site in Shopian last month, Tamheed, son of slain Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari, and the granddaughter of Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Tamheed scored 94.8 per cent with 474 of total 500 marks.
PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “Best wishes to Tamheed, son of Shujaat Bukhari, Sehar, granddaughter of SASG & all others who passed… To those who didn’t make it, there is no shortcut to hard work…”
South Kashmir districts, especially Shopian, Pulwama and Kulgam, have witnessed unprecedented violence this year as most of the gunfights took place in these districts, followed by frequent shutdowns and civilian protests.
