Private schools in Haryana flag concerns over CET exam dates

The Federation of Private Schools Welfare Association has raised objections to the dates finalised for the Common Eligibility Test (CET) examination by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission.

The exam is set to be conducted on July 26 and 27 in the state. The federation said it had raised concerns regarding the date finalised for the examination with members of the commission.

The association also flagged concerns about the anticipated state-wide holiday on the day of the exam. The federation has submitted a memorandum to the commission to mark its resentment.

Association president Kulbhushan Sharma said, “The Haryana Staff Selection Commission is conducting CET examinations on July 26 and 27, for which around 1,300 government and private schools have been finalised as examination centres. We have no objection to the decision to conduct examinations in schools, but it has also come to notice that there will likely be a holiday in all schools across the state on the days of the exam. There are around 35,000 private and government schools in the state, and there is no point in closing all schools. A holiday must be declared only in the schools identified as examination centres.”

“The examination will be held on July 26 and July 27 (the last Saturday and Sunday of July). Schools remain closed on the second Saturday of every month, so instead of selecting the last Saturday and Sunday, the commission should have selected the second Saturday and Sunday. There was no need to declare an extra holiday in schools. Even the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in a direction, had said the normal academic functioning of the schools should not be hampered in any way due to recruitment tests,” said Sharma, who is also the president of National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA). The federation said it had no plans to create any hurdles for the government; however, it added that the government should follow the directions of the High Court.

“The government must ensure that the schools’ academic functioning is not hampered. The federation doesn’t want to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court repeatedly over the same issue,” said the federation president.