Board exam must for promotion to Class IX, says Haryana's top official

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, February 5

No Class VIII Haryana student, whether in government or private school and irrespective of their board affiliation, would be admitted to Class IX in the upcoming academic session without clearing the mandatory annual examination that the Board of School Education-Haryana (BSEH) plans to conduct in March.

Applies to pvt schools

All Class VIII students, even those of private schools, need to pass the board exam for promotion to Class IX. Ved Prakash Yadav, BSEH Vice-chairman

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Adding another chapter to the ongoing controversy over board exams, the BSEH has, in an order issued to all district education authorities, said there shall be no annual exams for Class VIII at the school level in the ongoing session and these would instead be held by the board.

The BSEH had earlier announced it would conduct annual Class VIII examination in schools, a practice that had been done away with years ago. Sources said the BSEH had asked all private schools to register themselves on the board website by February 15 for enrolment of Class VIII students. The order would even stand for schools that had been issued a no-objection certificate by the Education Department for affiliation to any other board for secondary and senior secondary examination, the sources said.

Private schools affiliated to the CBSE have resolved to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the board’s “autocratic approach”. “We held a meeting today and unanimously decided to file a writ petition in the High Court. How can the BSEH conduct exams when the government has already withdrawn its powers to hold the exams of Classes V and VIII. Moreover, the State Council of Education Research Training (SCERT), Gurugram, has also misled the High Court by authorising the BSEH to conduct the exams,” said Anil Kaushik, the president of Progressive Private Schools Association, a group of schools affiliated to the CBSE.

Ved Prakash Yadav, BSEH Vice-Chairman, said since the SCERT had authorised the BSEH as a nodal agency to conduct the examination, hence all private schools had been asked to get themselves registered with it so as to expedite the process to hold annual Class VIII exams. “We are planning to conduct the exams in March. The Class VIII syllabus has also been uploaded on our website. All Class VIII students, even those of private schools, need to pass the board exam for promotion to Class IX,” he added.

Private schools affiliated to the CBSE had last month approached the High Court challenging the state government’s decision to conduct board exams of Class VIII in all schools in the state, including those under the CBSE and other boards, through the BSEH from the academic session. They pleaded that mandating board exam for Class VIII would mean dual affiliation, which was neither practical nor feasible.

Later, the government informed the High Court that the power of conducting the exams had been withdrawn from the BSEH while the SCERT had been notified as an academic authority. The SCERT then asked the BSEH to conduct the exams as an agency, pleading that the BSEH possessed expertise to hold such exams.

Another controversy

• The order covers all schools, including private, irrespective of their board affiliation
• BSEH had earlier announced it would conduct Class VIII examinations in schools
• The practice had been done away with years ago & schools held the exam at own level