Haryana CM says board exams will not be held for students of Classes 5 & 8 this year- Education News
The Haryana government has postponed its plan to hold board exams for Classes 5 and 8 until next year, in light og strong reservations expressed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the CISCE against the state’s proposal.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday.
However, Khattar’s announcement on Monday made no reference to the Boards’ decision or the opposition voiced by the schools and parents. He said “In wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, students’ studies were affected. Thus, we have decided to defer the board examinations for class 5th and 8th for the current session. The board examinations shall be held next year. For the current session, schools have been asked to conduct the examinations at their own level.”
The Board of School Education, Haryana (BSEH) in October 2021, had proposed the conduct of board exams for Classes 5 and 8 in all government and private schools, irrespective of the education board they are affiliated to. The move was justified on the ground that it would help monitor the progress students and enable a standardized assessment of the learning outcomes. The decision led to controversy among the private schools in the state affiliated to CBSE and CISCE boards. Associations of private school management have opposed this move insisting that a school affiliated with one board cannot have affiliation with another to conduct board exams.
The state government withdrew the order last month after a few schools approached the High Court. But, on January 18, the government released a notification to amend the Right to Education Act and appointed SCERT in Haryana as the “Academic Authority” to conduct exams for Classes 5 and 8. The SCERT, on January 28, entrusted BSEH with the responsibility. As per the state government’s order, all government and private schools were expected to register themselves with the Haryana board to conduct class 5 and 8 exams before February 20.
Provoked by this, school associations 9 filed a petition in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana seeking a stay on the order. The first hearing was on February 10 and the court has reserved its decision on the matter until the next hearing on April 4. Meanwhile, parents and students across various parts of the State have been protesting for the demanding that the state government cancel the proposed decision to hold board examinations for Classes 5 and 8. Parents had been asserting that the board examinations for these classes would create unnecessary stress for students, who have been grappling to overcome the learning gaps after repeated school closures and online classes due to the ongoing pandemic for the last over two years.
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