Border states shut schools across J&K, Punjab and Rajasthan ongoing exams paused

NEW DELHI, May 10 — Schools and colleges across Jammu and Kashmir, six Punjab border districts and four Rajasthan border districts remained shut on Friday and Saturday as three state administrations invoked safety protocols and cancelled all police leave. Barmer's collector ordered ongoing examinations postponed until further notice and asked schools to await fresh dates.

The closures put roughly 2,500 schools and tens of thousands of children on a sudden parent-comm clock. Class teachers face the same questions today — when does the school reopen, what happens to the missed practical paper, who calls the bus contractor, who stops the mid-day-meal supply. Office staff in border belts are running emergency phone trees instead of the usual May result-day calls.

Punjab shut schools in Ferozepur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran 'until further orders,' cancelling all police leave at the same time. Rajasthan's school education department closed every government and private school in Barmer, Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar and Jaisalmer, and Barmer collector Tina Dabi issued a written order postponing ongoing exams. "Holidays are declared for all government and non-government schools in Barmer until further orders, and ongoing examinations are postponed," the order said. Jammu and Kashmir's school education department closed every school and college in the union territory on May 9 and May 10, retaining the closure order in the Jammu province for medical colleges only on Saturday. Police leave was cancelled across the three states; administrative and education department leaves were cancelled in border districts.

This is the second straight day of closures across the three states, and the second time this academic session that border belts have absorbed a state-government safety call. Earlier in April, Punjab and Rajasthan had run shorter heat-day timing changes without shutting school buildings altogether. The current closures sit on top of the CBSE Class 10 phase-2 calendar — those exams are due to begin May 15.

The state administrations have not yet announced reopening dates. Punjab's directorate of education will review the situation Sunday evening; Rajasthan's school education department said fresh date-sheets for Barmer's postponed exams will follow within a week. CBSE Class 10 phase-2 candidates in border districts are advised to keep their phase-2 admit cards ready and watch their school's WhatsApp groups for any reschedule notice.

Source: The Hindu, Business Standard, Outlook.

Related on Inkwelly

For schools handling closure days:

• Mark daily class attendance — record closure-day exemptions per class so the monthly register stays auditable
• Monthly attendance register — closure cells auto-shade like a paper register so class teachers know what to mark when school reopens
• Chronic absentee watchlist — exclude school-closure days from the RTE 75 percent threshold automatically

Modules this affects:

• Student attendance — closure days should be marked as institutional holidays, not student-side absences
• Examinations — postponed exam dates need fresh date-sheet, room and admit-card runs

Earlier in this thread:

• Heatwave: schools cut to 7:30 AM–12:30 PM across north India
• KVS shuts schools in 16 regions from May 8 for 40 days