No state board exams for classes V and VIII in Haryana this session

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, February 21

The The development has brought major relief to over 2,000 private schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which had been fighting a legal battle against the government’s move of conducting the board exams. They have termed the development as their victory.

“We had decided to hold board exams for Class V and Class VIII for all schools in the state, but some people said the Covid situation had badly affected studies this year. So, board exams should not be conducted. Keeping this in view, no board exams for Class V and VIII will be held in the current session. The schools will be able to hold the exams for both classes like the previous session,” said Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister.

The development came at a time when the process for registering private schools affiliated to boards other than Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH) and enrolling their students was underway for the board exams. The last date for enrolment was also recently extended after private schools affiliated to the CBSE showed dismal response to get themselves registered with the BSEH.

“We hail the decision and also express gratitude to the Chief Minister who resolved the row after understanding the concern of private schools, students and their parents. The development will take some pressure off the students who were at the receiving end following the uncertainty over the exams,” said Anil Kaushik, president, Progressive Private Schools Association.

Kaushik claimed the move of conducting exams was a violation of Section 30 (1) of the Right to Education Act which says no child shall be required to pass any board examination till completion of elementary education.

Last month, private schools affiliated to the CBSE had approached the High Court challenging the state government’s decision to conduct board exams for Class VIII through the BSEH.

They had pleaded that mandating Class VIII exams by the BSEH for all schools would mean dual affiliation which was neither practical nor feasible.

Later, the government informed the court that the power of conducting the exams had been withdrawn from the BSEH and the SCERT had been notified as “Academic Authority”.

The SCERT then asked the BSEH to conduct the exams as an agency, pleading that the BSEH possesses expertise to hold such exams. The schools again moved the High Court against it. The case is yet to be decided. TNS