NEW DELHI: Days after the Delhi government announced that there will be no written exams for students up to Class 8’ in government and aided schools, the students and parents of private and unaided schools are feeling ‘left out’ and called the government’s order ‘biased’.
The Delhi Parents Association (DPA) has written to Education Minister Manish Sisodia requesting to implement the same order in private schools and unaided schools also. On Wednesday, the Directorate of Education (DOE) had announced that all students from KG to Class 8 will be promoted to the next class based on assessments of assignments and projects given by the schools throughout the year.
“All currently enrolled students up to and including Class 8 will be promoted to the next class under the ‘No Detention Policy’. The purpose of this assessment is to understand the impact of the alternate learning approach that needed to be adopted under the prevailing circumstances this year. The data of this assessment will also help the DoE in determining the course content and learning strategies for the next session,” said a senior official.
“The parents are worried and are feeling left out of the education system of Delhi. We had been proposing the no detention policy since last year. Now, the government has implemented it but only for government schools. Why? Are private schools not part of the Delhi Education system? Rather than creating bias, the government should rename the DoE as ‘Directorate of Education of Government schools’,” said Aparajita Gautam, president of the DPA.
“The government continuously gives step-motherly treatment to parents and students from private schools. We appeal to you to implement the ‘No Detention Policy’ in private schools also. All children have the right to be promoted to the next class,” the parents association urged Sisodia. Several parents have also raised voices against the offline examinations announced for Class 9 and 11. The DPA has appealed to to conduct these exams online or on optional choice basis.