2,842 Class VIII students miss second chance, won’t be promoted

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service 

Faridkot, August 19

After removing the no detention policy for Classes V and VIII, the School Education Department has decided not to promote 2,842 students of Class VIII in government schools this time. The students had failed in the second chance to clear the exam, provided to them two months after they failed in the annual exam conducted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in March this year.

After many years of no exams for Class 5 and 8 students under the Right to Education Act (RTE), the SCERT had conducted the examination of Class VIII in March this year. After over 10,000 students of Class VIII failed to score the minimum 33 per cent marks, they were given another chance in May. In all, 2,842 of these students failed to pass the exam. The department has decided not to promote them.

Among the 2,842 retained students, Bathinda district has 270 students, followed by 260 in Faridkot, 240 in Ferozepur, 173 in Moga, 242 in Muktsar and 91 in Barnala. 

In pursuance to the amendment in the RTE, the examination for Classes V and VIII will be conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) in place of the SCERT from this year. Instead of the SCERT, the PSEB will determine and fix the criteria for passing the examination as per its policy, says a notification of the School Education Department, sent to all district education officers of the state on Monday.

The PSEB will conduct an examination within two months for the student who fails to pass the exam as per the provisions of the Act.