Taking the joy out of learning
Every time an education policy is on the anvil, India takes one step forward and two backwards. Almost a decade after the Right to Education Act replaced the concept of examinations and pass/fail with comprehensive and continuous evaluation, and shifted the focus to pedagogy, we are back at square one.
The Centre’s decision to replace multiple medical entrance exams with a common eligibility test faced backlash in many states, particularly Tamil Nadu. While students did suffer due to the sudden implementation, the test exposed the hidden rot in the system—several State Boards of education are following outdated curriculums, qualitatively far behind the Central Board. The TN government instantly acknowledged this fact and started working on updating and revising the syllabus. While the opposition focused on lambasting the government for being unable to stop NEET, the state officials quietly stepped up the quality of school education.
Independent experts have pointed out that the revised syllabus more than equips students, mostly from underprivileged communities, to handle NEET and other such entrance exams, at least in the future. Next, however, the state quite unexpectedly announced that students of Class V and VIII would now have to take common ‘board’ exams. This decision has been severely criticised by the same experts who lauded the syllabus revision. Early exams would not just stress out young kids but also kill the joy of learning. It is also likely to dissuade students from pursuing sports and other skills, with the focus being primarily on clearing exams.
The main reason cited by the RTE for a no-detention policy till Class VIII was that fear of competitive exams could increase dropout rates in schools. The longer kids stay in school, the more they tend to learn, irrespective of examination of their skills. It also opens up opportunities for teachers to use innovative learning methods. In larger interests, it’s crucial for policymakers to revisit the rationale behind the no-detention policy of the RTE before implementing major reforms.