HYDERABAD: While the Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar may have stated that the ‘No Detention’ policy will soon become a thing of past, at least for Classes V-VIII, the All Indian Democratic Students’ Organisation views it as a partial victory towards their goal of improving education.
The minister on Friday said in Lok Sabha that students of Classes V to VIII will be assessed in March and if they fail, a second attempt would be given in May to allow them to clear the exam. Those students who fail the second time too would not be promoted to higher class.Stating that exams are the only way students can be assessed, R Gangadhar, secretary of AIDSO, said “The volume of students who pass and fail in each class will throw open a discussion and will force us to find remedies, something that’s lacking in the current system.
Our demand continues to be the same: the introduction of the pass-fail system from Class I onwards. Syllabus of primary classes is basic but lays the foundation for a child’s future academic development. Hence, it cannot be ignored,” said.
Padmaja Rani, a government school teacher, agrees that lack of infrastructure and facilities in government schools and the growing fascination with English Medium education are driving students in scores towards private schools.