The much-debated issue of whether a school can ask students from its primary section to sit for a test before admitting them to Class V came up for hearing at Calcutta High Court again on Wednesday.

The petition was moved by the state education department, through the management of Shibpur Hindu Girls? High School, in Howrah. Petitioner counsel Bikash Bhattacharjee cited several judgments of the court to buttress his argument that the test should be mandatory in all schools.

Earlier, a division bench of the high court had upheld a single-bench order stating that a school did not have the right to ask students passing out from its own primary section (classes I-IV) to take a test for admission to Class V. The promotion of a student from Class IV to Class V should be automatic, the court had ruled.

Education department officials claimed that the order had created confusion among students. While some schools have discontinued the practice, others, mostly government-aided ones, still hold the test. ?There should be a uniform rule,? an official said.

Advocate Bhattacharjee on Wednesday argued before the division bench of Justice A.K. Basu and Justice P.K. Deb: ?Secondary schools have the right to screen students before admitting them to Class V.?

The bench adjourned the hearing till February 20, when advocate-general Balai Ray will submit his arguments.