Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday told Zee 24 Taas in Pune that many states have demanded that the policy be scraped.
The Central government plans to introduce a bill in the Parliament soon to scrap the existing 'No-Detention' clause, which currently does not allow schools to 'detain' students between classes 5 and 8.
Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday told Zee 24 Taas in Pune that many states have demanded that the policy be scraped. "We have formulated a bill in this regard which will be passed in the upcoming session of the Parliament. Schools will conduct exams for class 5 and 8 and if a student fails, he will be given a second chance to pass the exams. However, if he/she fails in the second attempt, the school can them detain the child. The move will help improve learning outcomes," Javadekar said. The minister said that the government is also planning to reduce the syllabus across all standards. "Children in class 2 are given seven books which is a lot for their age. This puts a lot of burden on them and it has to stop," he said.
The 'no-detention' policy which is a key component of the RTE act was introduced by the UPA government and came into force on April 1, 2010, with the intention of ensuring that every child aged between six and 14 years received school education. However, since its implementation, experts have raised concerns over the poor learning outcomes that have been associated with the policy.
Javadekar's announcement has invited mixed reactions from parent bodies, students, scholars and academicians. Uday Nare, teacher at Hansraj Morarji Public School in Andheri said that scrapping the policy would help students. "Many students take 'exams' and 'passing' for granted. The fear of detention will motivate them to study hard and improve the outcome of educational learning," Nare said.
Jayant Jain, an education activist from Forum for Fairness in Education (FFE) said that scrapping the policy would be detrimental for students. "If a child fails in the primary years, the chances of dropping out of school are high. Such students would be compelled to work, especially in poor families. The move will be against the spirit of the RTE Act which ensures free and compulsory education to all," Jain said.
Arundhati Chavan, president of the PTA United Forum said that it is a good decision. "The policy had led to schools and students behaving in a lax manner. Since there was no fear of detention, students would not take their exams seriously, which affected their understanding of subjects like Maths, Science and languages at the elementary level," she added.
Nishtha Seth, a class 8 student from Mumbai said that it was a good move. "With no pressure of examinations, students lack basic understanding of subjects," Nishtha said.
Welcoming the move, leading educationalist and co-founder of School Leaders Network, Francis Joseph said that exams are essential to prepare students for future competitions. Schools should however work with students to make them realise that if they fail once, they always have a second chance. They should avoid putting pressure for merely bettering their overall results and should use the second exam as an opportunity to help the children sail through," Joseph said.
In October 2016, state education minister Vinod Tawde had said that Maharashtra was in favour of scrapping the policy. "Students who are weak in academics should be given remedial coaching and re-exams should be conducted," Tawde had said.
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