JOIN USThe Centre has initiated a review of the no-detention policy and continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) system in schools after many states complained about them being the prime reason for decline in students’ performance.
The complaining parties have been demanding re-introduction of the annual board examination system.
Discussion on the pros and cons of the system of automatic promotion is underway at various levels under the aegis of the ministry of human resource development (HRD) to identify the gaps and take corrective measures, official sources told Deccan Herald.
Principals of various schools besides officials from the HRD ministry and the Central Board of Secondary Education recently attended a meeting to discuss how no-detention policy was affecting students’s performance at the elementary level.
Students’ skills affected
Students are reportedly failing to acquire appropriate skills in reading, writing and arithmetic as outcomes of the no-detention policy and CCE, sources said. A multi-stakeholder task force, set up in February, mainly to monitor the consultation process for formulation of a new education policy, is also looking at the stakeholders’ observations and suggestions.
Key meet on Aug 19
The issue, which was also discussed at a meeting of the state education ministers and secretaries in March, is also set to come up in the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting likely on August 19. HRD Minister Smriti Irani will preside over the talks.
During the meeting, the report of a committee that was set up by the CABE during the UPA rule on issues related to the no-detention policy and implementation of the CCE will be taken up.
The panel, which was headed by former Haryana education minister Geeta Bhukkal, spoke against the no-detention policy and recommended re-introduction of an annual examination system, at least classes V and VIII, besides making 80 per cent attendance in classes mandatory so that they benefit from the CCE under the Right To Education Act.