The
Lok Sabha has passed a bill to amend the
Right to Education (RTE) Act and abolish the ‘no detention’ policy in schools and it would be at the discretion of the states if they want to implement the same. The bill provides for a regular examination in classes V and VIII, and if the child fails, s/he will be given an opportunity to attempt the exam in two months’ time.
Rajiv Singh, principal of a government school in Basti, Uttar Pradesh, said that it is a welcome move as it will help in improving the quality of students, who are actually qualified to be promoted.
One of the major repercussions of the ‘no detention’ policy, which mandated that children should not be failed till class VIII, is that there is an increase in failure rates in classes IX and X. This is because most underperforming students with limited understanding of basic concepts were promoted to higher classes. Due to their weak foundation, these students could not perform well in class IX and X.
“With such a policy in place where all students were being promoted till class VIII, we were forced to do a lot of hand-holding and even promote students from class IX to class X to maintain the overall results of the school. Also, keeping the quality of students in mind, even the
class X board exams have been diluted to a great extent. This is one of the reasons for large number of unskilled and unemployable youth,” said Singh, adding that this is also the reason why students, especially from state boards, cannot perform well when it comes to competitive exams.
According to Mumbai-based career counsellor
Swati Salunkhe, scrapping the ‘no detention’ policy would ensure a check on students and make them realise that failure is part and parcel of life. This would also deter students from taking their studies casually, which seems to be the case right now because there is no check on their performance.
She added that such students, when they fail to perform in the later classes, become easy victims of depression and are more prone to suicidal and negative thoughts.
