No board exams for students of Classes 5, 8 this year: Haryana CM

The state board examinations for class 5 and 8 in Haryana schools have been deferred for the next session. The announcement was made by the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, Monday. 

“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”, Khattar said. 

“To discuss the issue of whether to hold board examinations for these two classes, a meeting was scheduled to be held on February 25. We shall see, if the meeting is required to be held now. But, we have decided not to hold state board examinations for these two classes, for the current session”, Khattar said. 

In October 2021, BSEH proposed the conduct of board exams for classes 5 and 8 in all government and private schools in Haryana. On January 18, the government brought out 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.

Indian Express, on February 15, had first reported the reservations of the two national boards – CBSE and CISCE on the decision. While the CBSE had conveyed its doubts over the proposal to the Ministry of Education (MoE), the CISCE had written directly to the Haryana Government disagreeing with the latter’s decision.

Across various parts of the State, parents and students had been protesting for the last many days demanding the state government to cancel the proposed decision to hold board examinations for class 5th and 8th. Parents had been asserting that the board examinations for these classes would create unnecessary stress for students, who were as such struggling to overcome the learning gaps after repeated school closures and online classes due to ongoing pandemic for the last over two years.