Closure of PSEB exam portal before deadline leaves lakhs of pupils jittery
Jalandhar, October 8
The students of classes V and VIII were in for a shock when they found that the Punjab School Education Board’s (PSEB) annual examination registration portal had closed before the scheduled October 10 deadline.
The portal closed on October 3 due to a protest by staff over unpaid dues. Till May, 2,13,259 students had been enrolled in class V alone. The exams for classes V and VIII are scheduled to be held in February 2024. Teachers said after the online registration of the students, a challan was to be generated, which was required by students to appear in the exams. But due to the portal’s closure, the same could not be generated.
Will extend October 10 deadline
The previous government left us with a deficit of Rs 600 crore, of which Rs 100 crore alone stands as outstanding against bill book expenditure. Two meetings on the issue have already been held with the CM and Finance Minister. We are resolving the issue and the registration deadline of October 10 will also be extended. —Harjot Singh Bains, Education Minister
The pending dues to the staff are over Rs 700 crore. The PSEB Employees Association has issued an ultimatum to the state government demanding the clearance of dues. They have stated that they will not allow any exam to be conducted in future until their dues are cleared.
Parwinder Singh Khangura, president, PSEB Employees Association, said, “The PSEB owes Rs 720 crore to the employees.”
The PSEB employees have been demanding the dues for the exams they had conducted for classes V and VIII earlier. Over Rs 600 crore is outstanding against holding other examinations and bill book expenditure. “If we open the portal, we will be forced to conduct the exams again without any payment. We are suffering financially in terms of salaries and pension. We had written to the CM and even held a press conference in Mohali, stating we won’t allow this year’s classes V and VIII exams until our dues are paid,” Khangura added.
Karnail Phillaur, Government Teachers Union leader, who is a teacher at Government High School, Mau Sahib, Jalandhar, said, “The future of these students is at stake. Due to the protest by PSEB employees, the portal hasn’t been opened. The registration of 42 Class VIII students in my school are pending. Every student has to deposit Rs 200 admission fee after the online registration, following which challans are generated. But this isn’t possible due to portal closure. With just two days to go, even if it opens, the portal will witness a huge traffic. The government should extend the last date for the registration and pay dues of the PSEB staff.”
A teacher at a government school, Kapurthala, said, “Most teachers have done registration. But the submission of fee and challan generation has not been completed. If the deadline passes, both government and parents will blame teachers. Since parents are reluctant to even pay the admission fee, the Rs 1,500 late fee per student will have to be borne by us.”
Satbir Kaur Bedi, Chairman, PSEB said, “We are discussing the issue. That is all I can say at the moment.”
State Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said, “The previous government left us with a deficit of Rs 600 crore, of which Rs 100 crore alone stands as outstanding against bill book expenditure. Two meetings on the issue have already been held with the CM and the Finance Minister. We will resolve the issue and the registration deadline will also be extended.”
