Thursday 27 August 2015

Exam or No Exam ,That is the Question


Section  16 of the Right to Education Act  ,2009 says that no child admitted in school  shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education.It  provides for no detention policy for students from class one to eight.This was enforced  in 2010 to ensure holistic development of students.
On  August 19,2015,the newly constituted CABE(Central Advisory Board of Education),the top body advising the government on education  in its meeting  considered the report of its subcommittee (Geeta Bukkal  sub committee) on  detention policy.Reportedly,there was a broad consensus for revoking the no-detention policy.This would mean that the policy  of automatic promotion of students in classes one to eight is likely to come to an end.No detention policy has been found to adversely affect  students' learning.
                      If the central government  and the state governments come to the decision that  no- detention policy is to be scrapped, it will require an amendment of the RTE Act.It makes me wonder  how and why this provision  was included in the first place ,in the fundamental law relating to elementary education .There is something seriously wrong  with our process of formulating policies and laws.This fundamental flaw in our governance system needs to be corrected on priority.And I have a reason to believe that  there  is a need to revisit  most of  the provisions of the Right to Education Act ,2009 .
                       





2 comments:

Unknown said...

This policy needs to be changed. Drop out rate has reduced, but in many schools, students of class 8 cannot read books of class 2 or 3. That was well said that there is something seriously wrong with our process of formulating policies and laws.

Vidya Nand Garg said...

I agree.Thank you for your comment.