CHENNAI: The State government on Friday announced the introduction of board exams for Class 5 and 8 students from this academic year. A proposal for the same was made in the recently released draft National Education Policy of the Centre. Though there has been stiff opposition to the draft policy from various quarters, and the draft policy has not yet been finalised by the Central government, the State seems to have gone ahead with its implementation.
Speaking to Express, a senior school education department official said though the exams are being implemented with immediate effect, no student would be detained -- up to Class 8 -- for the next three years. After that period, starting from 2022, students failing in these exams would be detained in the same class. Effectively, this decision will eventually break the no-detention until Class 8 policy that TN has repeatedly advocated in the past.
THE State government’s decision to conduct Board Examinations for Class 5 and 8 students beginning this academic year has evoked mixed reactions. While private schools have welcomed the move, activists and public education experts have slammed the decision saying it would be detrimental for a majority of students. The State government’s decision comes in the wake of Centre’s amendment to the Right to Education Act earlier this year, which scrapped the no-detention policy. Though State governments can choose not to implement the amendment, Tamil Nadu seems to have gone ahead and implemented the Centre’s policy change.
“If board exams are introduced at an elementary level, rote learning will become the only way of education in schools. Learning will come to a standstill if you put it out for public assessment when the children are still in their formative years,” says educationist D Vasanthidevi.
A senior government school teacher felt the decision was taken keeping just the city-based students in mind. “Even today, there are many single-teacher schools across the State. This decision will discourage students in such schools and increase drop-out rates,” he said. According to the amendments made to the RTE Act in 2019, students who fail the Class 5 or 8 board examinations will be given supplementary tests within two months of the announcement of results. The State government’s order says that those students who fail to clear the supplementary tests will have to repeat the same academic year.
The Correspondent of a popular matriculation move supported the decision, saying scrapping the no-detention policy could actually improve learning outcomes. “I have seen many Class 5 students who cannot do basic addition or subtraction. This move will help students be on top of their syllabus,” Correspondent said.
The government has instructed the Department of Elementary Education to set up an examination committee to make arrangements such as printing hall tickets etc for the Board Exams.