BENGALURU: The ‘no-fail policy’ in Karnataka schools has made children very indifferent to exams, say, educationists and teachers. Students take advantage of the policy thereby not studying properly and scoring less. For students till 8th standard, a no-detention policy is followed in schools where despite poor performance in exams, they are not supposed to be detained in the same class.
The Headmistress of Mother Mary English School observed that students have become very laid back in terms of exam preparation and writing it well, which was reflected in the recent assessments, indicating that students are confident of being promoted to the next grade regardless of their scores.
D Shashi Kumar, an educationist and general secretary for Karnataka Association of Management of Primary and Secondary Schools (KAMS), said, despite the Parliament approving a bill to reverse the “No Detention Policy” under the Right to Education Act in 2019, it is still practised here.
Kumar explained that it is important for students to experience a healthy competition and be able to cope up with stress at every stage in life. Until 8th standard, if a child is promoted without proper assessment, they will face lots of issues during the course of higher education, he added.
Instead of a no detention policy, a child can be given a second chance to appear for exams in case of failing and be detained only if they are unable to score decent marks in the reassessment which will give a fair opportunity for both the teachers and the students to understand the child’s ability and performance and guide them accordingly to provide quality learning and better performance in future, Kumar suggested.