Many a times it is observed that some new policies implemented by the government are not wholeheartedly accepted by the people, and are in fact even ridiculed and condemned, citing our own reasons for rejecting the changes with our lopsided justifications. The ‘no detention’ policy of the Government of India under the Right to Education Act is one such program introduced in the country, which might not have percolated well with some people including parents and school managements. It was a well-conceived program designed under the guidance of country’s noted educationists, intended to bring the entire population under the ambit of education.
The idea of passing every student till class VIII was to encourage the students and the parents, particularly the illiterate ones, to ensure that the children do not drop out from the schools, under the pretext of failing in the examinations. For instance, if a student in the early years of schooling fails, as it used to happen earlier, both the student and the parent would be discouraged, which was one reason for dropping out from schools. Besides during the tender age, all students are not focussed on the studies but on motivation they tend to change as they grow. So despite arguments being to the contrary it was a good idea to promote the students till class VIII.
In this scheme a lot of dedication is expected both from the teachers and the parents for its success. More often than not the society holds only the teachers responsible for the failure of the scheme, contending that they have not put in their best efforts to teach the students. But what about the efforts of the parents in motivating and encouraging the children to remain focussed on their studies? In some cases the parents will be very complacent that till class VIII there would be no headaches for them in view of the mass promotions. In such cases the student will be found lacking in performance on reaching class IX.
This is exactly what has been disclosed in the national survey conducted over Goa that in class IX examinations, 14.5 per cent of the students failed and what is even worse, there is a dropout rate of 13 per cent at this level, obviously due to the failures.
The shocking findings of the report should be an eye-opener for all of us to ponder over. It is simple to blame the teachers but parents cannot absolve themselves from the situation. They need to be more involved with their children in the studies on regular basis. Let us not blame the policy. It is well-conceived but lacks in implementation, which should be at all levels.
