Mumbai schools fail on no-fail policy

Although the no-fail policy was meant to get students excited about learning, and not just excelling in exams, schools have failed to implement the policy in its right spirit in the first year.

While the policy suggests that students should comprehend what they are learning and proposes remedial teaching, it is being misused by parents and teachers alike.

Not failing a child till class VIII should not lead to a child being pushed ahead through the classes without checking his understanding. “Each student should be trained to study what has been covered in school irrespective of exams being held. The important thing is to get the student excited about learning and not just excelling in exams,” said Nandakumar, project director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

But schools are simply converting a problem in the lower grades to a more difficult problem in upper grades, and are not clear about remedial tutoring, he added. The policy proposes that if a child receives failing marks, then teachers should continue to work on his weaker areas even when he is promoted to the higher grade.

For instance, very few schools have started remedial teaching. “If a student is failing the examination, we conduct retests, open book tests etc. We do not have a full fledged remedial programme. We keep repeating tests and some times even set the same papers but student performance is falling,” said Freny Mehta, principal, Alexandria Girls High School, Fort.

Some schools complain that parents are exploiting the act. “Parents have become carefree and developed a laidback attitude towards their children’s education. They do not take an interest in the children’s studies anymore. Even if they are called by the school to discuss their child’s weakness in studies, they do not act upon it,” said Francis Swamy, principal, Holy Family School, Andheri.

Also, many parents and teachers feel the rule will affect the academic standards of students. “A student of Class II or III doesn’t understand what a no-fail policy means. But his or her attitude towards classroom behaviour or academics will become negative. Teachers might come up with strategies to handle the situation but we cannot ignore the fact that once a student enters Class X or XII, he or she will have to sit for board exams and face the pressure later,” said Nirmala Das, a parent.