Leaving some behind to move them ahead

Leaving some behind to move them ahead

The proposal to modify the “no-detention” policy by introducing examinations at class 5 and class 8 will help improve learning outcomes in schools. It creates a set of learning outcomes at the primary and upper primary levels, and a system to ensure that students acquire the minimum competence to be able to benefit from the next level of education.

The bulk of India’s schoolchildren are first-generation learners. They have little by way of support and resources for learning at home and have to contend with malnutrition, poverty, poor sanitation — factors that adversely impact cognitive skills. Additionally, many children have to earn something for the family and shoulder responsibilities such as looking after younger siblings. It was felt that holding back students to repeat a grade would undermine universal elementary education. This led to the no-detention policy in the Right to Education Act. No detention became a proxy for no testing, depriving teachers of an incentive to ensure that students learnt. Teachers were not adequately trained for this change in approach. In this context, testing and detention at the primary (class 5) and upper primary (class 8) levels make for a good intersection between the need to not create additional hurdles to schooling and ensuring that children learn at school. What it does is ensure that students are equipped with the requisite skills and learning to tackle the next stage of education, while retaining the flexibility divergent student backgrounds demand and doing without the stigma of detention.

However, this proposal is not a silver bullet to improve learning outcomes. The focus must be on empowering teachers so that they can calibrate the curriculum in a manner that maximises the learning experience of the students.