Parents demand cancellation of Class VIII exams

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, February 16

After private schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), parents, too, have, for the first time, come forward against the state government’s move of conducting board exams of Class VIII in all government and private schools (affiliated to any board) located in the state.

They have launched a signature campaign on social media to register their protest against the exams. Over 8,000 parents had participated in the campaign by evening today and many of them also commented “no board exams for Class VIII”, citing different reasons.

“The schools have reopened after a long gap, hence the decision to hold board exams for Class VIII without any prior intimation is absolutely unjustified. Children are taking their final exams in school currently and the move has added to the mental stress and well-being of my child,” commented Donna, a parent.

Anshul Pathania, district president, Haryana Progressive Schools Conference, said all associations of private schools were united over the issue and they had decided to apprise Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of the ill-effects of the move and to urge him to cancel the exams. “We have also got an appointment for February 25 to meet the CM,” he claimed.

Anil Kaushik, president, Progressive Private Schools Association, said they were now carrying out a survey to get parents’ comments over the issue before proceeding further.

“It is our duty to inform the parents that the Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH) is going to hold exams of their wards next month so that they could prepare their children for that. The children will get a detailed mark certificate issued by the BSEH if the exams are conducted,” he added.

On being contacted, Kanwar Pal Gurjar, Education Minister, said the state government would take a vital decision regarding the ongoing row over the board exams for Class VIII soon. He denied getting any communiqué from the Centre regarding the issue.