No Class 8 Boards in Haryana this year

Representative image

GURUGRAM: The Haryana government on Monday revoked its decision to hold board exams for students of Class VIII for this academic year, faced with protests from both parents and private schools.
But chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said it would be mandatory for students of classes V and VIII to appear for board exams from next year.
“Recently, the Haryana Board of School Education was asked to conduct these exams. But parents and schools requested us to defer them because the pandemic had affected the studies and preparations of students. There will be no board exams for these students this year,” Khattar said. “From the next session, board exams will be conducted for classes V and VIII,” he added.
TOI had recently reported that the government was mulling a “favourable decision” after both CBSE and ICSE expressed their reservations against the government’s move to hold board exams for Class VIII students. Citing differences in the evaluation process and questioning the timing of the move, parents had launched a staunch protest – both online and offline – and demanded that the government roll back the decision.
Schools, too, had questioned the decision to hold board exams for such junior students.
On Monday, students heaved a sigh of relief. Among them was Anya Zutshi, a student of KR Manglam World School in the city. It was only on Monday that Anya had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to intervene in the Haryana education board’s decision.
“I was tense after hearing that we will have to appear for board exams. So, I wrote a letter to the PM, hoping that he’ll be sensitive towards the concerns of the children. I am glad that the government finally heard us. But I want the government to scrap this idea altogether,” the Class VIII student said.
Parents welcomed the decision, but said it was only a partial breather. They said they would continue to oppose the decision until it was withdrawn.
“We are grateful to the CM for listening to our concerns and taking this decision. However, we won’t stop here. This is a partial victory for us. The main idea is to question the intent of bringing board exams for kids as young as 10 years old. Burdening them with the fear of detention will have a negative impact on their psychological development,” said Pradeep Rawat, the co-founder of the Gurugram Parents’ Association.
Schools, however, asserted that it was only the beginning of a long haul.
“Let there be parity in the process of evaluation, infrastructure and teaching capacities before we even talk about bringing parity at the learning levels. Roughly, 30-40% of posts in government schools are vacant. The infrastructure and teaching capacities have stark differences. Fix all of these first,” said Suncity School director Rupa Chakravarty.
Many suggested that the focus at the moment should be to integrate the students back to school life.
“Our priority is the emotional and psychological wellbeing of the students. Only then, real learning will take place. Moreover, the government has to make its intentions clear. If it is an olympiad sort of a thing with no condition of detention attached to it, schools will be happy to incorporate it. But conducting boards at such a tender age is not a good idea,” said Aditi Mishra, principal of Delhi Public School, Sector 45.
(With inputs from Chandigarh)

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