Looking at the scenario in Goa as well as the country, I am for the no fail policy and it should continue. If one goes by the educational scenario in the state of Goa, the situation is not at all as grim as is made out in other states. Our teachers, by and large have adapted to the no fail policy o r how else can we attribute the higher number of students passing SSC at the board Exams .In fact, after the implementation of no fail policy in our schools, nearly 4000 extra students are passing the SSC exams every year, conducted by the SSC Board thus necessitating increase of divisions in the higher secondary schools as well as opening of new higher secondary schools in Goa. As for the quality of education, today a minimum of at least 75 to 80% is required to get admission in XI standard in the Science Stream, which few years back , a child securing even as low as 50% could get admissions.
As for quality of higher education is concerned, three more engineering colleges have been established in Goa to meet the growing needs of the students. Many children are equipped today to crack the All India Entrance Exams such as AIEEE, AIPMT, JEE, GATE, GCET, and other Examinations from other states with profound success.
Many construe that the “ No Detention Policy” is based on the automatic promotion of a child to the next higher class, but the Act is very clear that the child should be promoted based on minimum level attainment test. If the child does not attain the minimum level, then the teacher should use remediation methods so that the child attains minimum level of attainment and then only the child should be promoted to the next higher class instead of detaining him in the same class for one more year.
Mention must be made here of the practices made by the Goa Board that when a child fails in one or more subjects from 9th to 12th standard, opportunities are given to the children to answer supplementary exams, so that the child can be promoted to the next higher class without detaining them.
My only request to the authorities concerned is not to scrap the no detention policy, but to improve the system to make it more friendly to the child for his holistic development for I do believe that every child Is a gift of God, and our duty is to nurture the child to the best of our abilities , otherwise we will be failing in our duties as educators and we will be held responsible for producing criminals , rapists terrorists and all the wicked men in our society. There is an age old saying that when you open one school, you close down one prison. So it’s my earnest request to the concern authorities not to throw the baby out along with the tub water. The RTE act can be amended to make the system more education friendly to the children.
It is also to be noted that The Ministry of Human Resource Development has initiated the process of consultation for formulating New Education Policy 2015. The main objective of the exercise is to meet the changing dynamics of the population requirements with regard to qualitative, quantitative and education aiming to make India a superpower in the knowledge technology.
The makers of Indian Constitution had a vision of Education for India which is enshrined in Article 45 of the Constitution which states “The state shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from commencement of this Constitution free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years.” However, statistics show that even after 68 years of Independence there over six million children under the age of 14 years out of schools.
Right to Education (RTE) Act
With a view to eradicate the illiteracy in India, the government came out with a landmark legislation in the form of “RIGHT TO FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION ACT 2009 which came into force with effect from July 10, 2010 which makes the right of a child to free and compulsory education from 6 years to 14 years”.
The Central Advisory Board for Education (CABE) and many state education ministers including student and teacher groups have said that the no detention policy should be reviewed. There is a growing demand among the so called educationists to bring back a pass-fail system in lieu of no detention policy.
No Detention Policy
Section 16 of the RTE Act mandates that “no child can be detained or held back in a class until the completion of his or her elementary education”. The corollary of this is Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation prescribed in Section 29 (h).
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
It was clarified that the CCE is a procedure “that will be non-threatening, releases the child from fear and trauma of failure and enables the teacher to pay individual attention to the child’. The age old method of answering examination based on rote memory is replaced by passing an examination which tests the child based on scholastic as well as non scholastic areas.
The non scholastic areas involve (a) life skills like thinking skills, social skills and emotional skills and (b) Attitudes, values and habits towards teachers, school mates, school programmes, environment and Value systems. It was felt that at the elementary stage a child should not be focused only on scholastic areas but a holistic approach towards life skills is of utmost importance.
(The writer is a retired headmaster having worked in various schools of Goa for the last 42 years. State Awardee and National Awardee for Teachers)
