The government is set to open a chapter which it had closed a good seven years back. The Union Cabinet decision to reverse one of its big decisions on education by failing the No-Fail Policy will be welcomed by teachers and educationists alike. Now, states will be allowed to detain students in class 5 and class 8 if they fail in the year-end exam. However, students will be given a second chance to improve via an examination before they are detained.
Under the present provision of the RTE Act, students are promoted automatically to higher classes till Class VIII. This is one of the key components of the RTE Act which came into force on April 1, 2010. The no-detention policy was implemented as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) under the RTE Act in 2010 to ensure holistic development of students. Under CCE the student was evaluated throughout the year and not just in one or two terms. Another objective of No-Fail Policy was also to reduce dropout rates.
The drawback of the No-Fail policy was that students developed a lackadaisical attitude as there were no risks of failing. There were no criteria to decide on performance of students. The academic levels and learning outcomes showed significant dips and the basic motive of arresting the dropout rate was not entirely achieved. The drop in LLOs (Learning Level Outcomes) clearly reflected that there is something drastically wrong with the system. The average student took studies very casually knowing well that at the end of the academic year there's nothing which stops him from crossing over to the next class. The end result was that failures shot up at standard 9. Detention will not only bring that seriousness back into the classrooms, but will also empower teachers with more control over students.
With decks cleared to junk the No-Fail policy, the government should now focus on better school infrastructure and better facilities, besides improving the standard of teaching. Teachers need to be well-trained to the changing times and better their level of teaching. Application-based approach is the need of the hour where students have to apply their mind to answer questions rather than adapting themselves to a set pattern. Innovative ideas should come into schools with more teacher-student interactive sessions rather than restricting studies to just the textbooks and curriculum.
