5th & 8th Class Exams to be Compulsory Again? NAS Survey Reveals ‘no detention’ Policy is a Failure

One more academic year comes to a close for most school students. These days, students are bit relaxed as majority of them know that till class VIII, they cannot be held back. The ‘no detention’ policy under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, is the reason behind not being in the anxiety of results declaration. Since the time this clause came into effect, many experts have raised voice against it as they believe know that students develop a careless attitude knowing that cannot be expelled from schools till 8th despite their low scores. But a study conducted by the National Achievement Survey (NAS) summons the ‘no-detention policy’ as learning outcomes are deteriorating among students as they progress to higher classes. Government's policy has been proved to be a failure and class 5th and 8th exams will be made compulsory again from the academic year 2019.

NAS through the study discovered that class 10th students under state education boards were struggling to write at least 40 percent of answers correctly in math, social science, science and English while they performed better only in India languages. The survey has been reported by The Times of India and it states that NAS conducted the survey in all the states and union territories with a sample of 15 lakh students and it was implemented on February 5, 2018. They discovered that during the national test; class X students performed poorer than class 3, 5 and 8 students. Students from CBSE and ICSE schools have done better than other state board schools in all disciplines. The score dipped to less than 40 percent for all state boards except Gujarat Board class 10th students. For junior classes, NAS saw the percent down to 54 percent in class 5 and 42 percent in class 8.

The results for English echoed the deteriorating graph. While 67 percent from 3rd standard answered correctly, 58 percent of class 5 students wrote the accurate answers; 56 percent of class 8 candidates could score in the exam while class 10 percentage went down to 42 percent. This shows the rise of underperformance among students as they step towards senior classes. A close source was quoted in the same report saying; “The no-detention policy has not worked. It was conceived in haste and poorly implemented. The government does not want to put students under more stress by compulsory grading in junior classes, but a passing requirement might be needed in Classes V and VIII.”

Out of all the state boards, Delhi students scored the highest in five subjects with the average score of 45.65 percent. While Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Rajasthan and Bihar did worst in English with an average score of 28.95 percent. The survey was conducted among 1.544 million students held at 44,514 schools in 610 districts all over the country. This was the largest survey ever done for class 10th students betterment.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2018 10:02 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).