The Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) in Kashmir has issued admit card to a brown cow to appear in the entrance test for selection to a polytechnic course next week. Described as “prank” by the BOPEE officials, the episode has offered handle to Opposition National Conference (NC) to pick holes in new coalition Government’s oft-repeated “resolve to reform the derailed education system”.
The BOPEE has issued a provisional electronic admit card in favour of Kachir Gaw (Kashmiri name for brown cow) who is daughter of Gura Dand (light-brown bull), whose date of birth is January 1, 1997. Interestingly, the admit card bears cow’s picture beneath BOPEE’s official logo. According to the document, the cow was supposed to write the professional examination at Room No. 5 of Commerce Block at the Degree College Bemina on May 10.
The dubious admit card went viral on social networking sites after NC spokesperson Junaid Mattu uploaded it on his twitter handle. “The J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations issued this roll-number slip to a cow after due verification. I have both the Provisional Confirmation Page for applicant Ms. “Kachir Gaw” as well as details of payment she made to BOPEE,” Mattu wrote.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah quickly joined in to mock at his political rivals. “Brilliant. I wish Kachir Gaaw had turned up for the examination”, Omar commented on Mattu post. A barrage of posts mocking at the education system as well as the ruling and opposition political class in Kashmir followed on the social sites.
The BOPEE took the record down from their website immediately after the “mistake” came to fore. “However after an informal heads-up was sent to the Government, BOPEE was asked to take the record down from their website this morning. Mr. Naeem Akhtar( J&K Education Minister) @jkpdp has some explaining to do. New benchmark of progress in Education Sector under him - COWS getting roll no slipsIJ” Mattu said in a series of tweets.
Abdur Rashid, a businessman from central Kashmir’s Budgam district claimed that he registered the “brown cow” for the entrance test “to expose the faulty system in Kashmir”. “The whole affair exposes the loopholes in the overall system”, he said. The BOPEE blamed the online system for the “mischief”. This time the candidates applied online and BOPEE had no access to the information submitted by aspirants. We have no role in issuance of admit cards”, BOPEE Controller of Examinations Dr Farooq Ahmad Mir said.
He said the computer does not differentiate between animal and human picture. Mir said that his signature on the admit card was computer generated. Education Minister Naeem Akhtar said the issue will be looked into. “We will inquire how it happened”, Akhtar said. The BOPEE is known for wrong reasons in Kashmir. During the previous NC-Congress regime, a grils was caught impersonating for a senior minister’s daughter in professional test for MBBS. The Minister GM Saroori had to resign from cabinet over the controversy.
In 2013, BOPEE former Chairman Mushtaq Pir, who was given extension by Omar Abdullah government, was arrested by Crime Branch of Police for his involvement in running a racket to sell question papers of professional examinations to select candidates. Admissions of around a dozen candidates, who were pursuing MBBS degrees, were later cancelled when their involvement in purchasing question papers against huge amounts was established.
“The mushroom growth of polytechnic colleges and unregulated admissions, sale of question papers in open market is an open secret in Kashmir. It is now established that even cows can become technocrats or doctors in Kashmir”, Muhammad Ashraf, a lawyer told The Pioneer. “The education system requires radical changes in Kashmir”, he argues.