Pass-fail may be back in schools

TNN | Sep 12, 2015, KOLKATA: The human resource development ministry is inching closer towards revoking the no-detention policy till Class VIII that was introduced as a section in the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. 

West Bengal adopted the policy in 2011 amidst huge protest from teachers who felt that the no-detention policy till Class VIII would lead to producing poor quality students. 

After a meeting with education minister Partha Chatterjee and a host of other senior officials in the city on Friday, HRD minister Smriti Irani said, "Twenty education ministers from various states have voted in favour of revoking the no-detention policy till Class VIII. Bengal has also expressed their views. But, I have asked them to give it to me in writing." 

Irani, however, remained tight-lipped when she was asked what was the Bengal government's stand on revocation of the no-detention policy. 

"Let them write to me first," she said. But sources said that though the state was yet to specify their standpoint on the no-detention policy, that won't significantly affect the HRD ministry's views on the issue as most of the states were against the policy. "I will speak to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and then write our views to the HRD ministry," Chatterjee said on Friday. 

"The first draft of the National Education Policy will be uploaded on MHRD's website for public opinion within December. After that, there will be more deliberations before the preparation of a final draft. I will visit some schools and meet teachers, students and their parents to know their views on the draft proposals of the policy," the HRD minister said. 

Chatterjee has also requested the HRD minister to ease norms on building colleges and universities that have been set by national regulators. 

"In a state like Bengal, where population density is among the highest in the country, land is a precious resource. We find University Grants Commission's prescriptions on land requirement (for universities and colleges) a bit outdated and out of sync with the country's ground realities of today. We would urge MHRD and UGC to review these norms and adopt an approach which calls for optimum utilisation of land as a scarce resource. Our emphasis should be on built-up area rather than quantum of land, which will allow for vertical expansion especially in metropolitan areas," Chatterjee reportedly told Irani. 

The present UGC norms specify that the states need to provide 100 acres to build a central university, 30 acres to build a state university and more than 10 acres to build a college. 

A source said that the HRD minister had also supported the view and assured Bengal that rules and regulations would be amended accordingly.

Published in Times of India and shared by kalimNews in Kalimpong News at http://kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.in/2015/09/pass-fail-may-be-back-in-schools.html  and http://kalimpongnews.net/2015/09/12/pass-fail-schools/