Srinagar, 9 May 

With tension between India and Pakistan forcing closure of educational institutions in Kashmir, several schools have switched to an online mode of classes to ensure that students do not lose precious academic time.

As the schools have remained closed since 7 May following India's missile strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan, leading private schools in the valley started online classes for their students on Friday.

"My kids have started to receive online education from today as it is not safe to venture out of homes, especially after what happened along the borders over the past three days," Saba Bhat, a mother of two, told PTI.

Saba's two sons are students at a leading private school in Pampore area of Pulwama district. While she believes that there is nothing better than attending classes in person, online classes in the current scenario are the best option.

"Attending the school in person helps in overall personality development of the children, but safety is of paramount importance. At least, this way the kids' academic progress will continue," she added.

Samina Ashraf is all praise for the management of the school where her daughter and son are enrolled.

"Online education was a novel concept when it was introduced on a large scale during the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago. However, this has come as a major boon for the students. They do not lose any time academically," she said.

Samina, who lost one full academic year when militancy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990, said the present generation will not suffer the same fate due to the advent of the internet and other technological advances in the past three decades.

"Although the current academic arrangement has been forced due to the situation, online classes have become an integral part of the education system the world over," she said.

Mushtaq Ahmad, a teacher in a government school, said a similar arrangement should be made for the public-run schools as well.

"The private schools have taken the lead here .... we will be doing the catching up if this situation continues longer. It is better that students of government schools also switch to online mode till it is safe to attend schools in person again," Ahmad said.

The government has closed schools, colleges, and universities as a precautionary measure in view of the situation along the borders.