ICSE board set to do away with no-detention policy

Mou Chakraborty, HT, 27 Oct 2016, KOLKATA: The ICSE council on Wednesday said it is planning to revert to the ‘no-detention’ policy till Class 5.This comes a day after the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) recommended to the government to go back to the old system. The schools across the country had no-detention policy in place till Class 5. However, after implementation of the RTE in 2009, the ‘no-detention’ policy was extended till Class 8. Now, CABE wants to go back to the old system.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar has already expressed his intention to amend the RTE Act and drop the ‘no-detention’ clause and give the state governments the power to take a call in this regard.

While West Bengal is yet to express its view on the matter, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the only private board in the country which conducts ISC and ICSE exams, has welcomed the move.

“We welcome this move. We would be more than happy to go back to the old system of having no detention till Class 5. If the amendment is passed in Parliament, then our executive council will take the decision,” said Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary of CISCE.

“Since the time RTE has been implemented and no-detention policy was extended till Class 8, we had encountered a lot of resentment from teachers, school management, parents and school principals. If a Class 8 student is not doing well and the school still promotes him to Class 9 when the syllabus for board exam starts, we are not doing any good to him. The school will have to detain him in Class 9, which would be unjust. He could have been corrected in a lower class,” Arathoon added.

While CBSE, too, is in favour of the changes, according to its chairman Rajesh Chaturvedi, the CBSE Class 10 board examinations would be revived from 2018 as there is a growing opinion in its favour. Till now, it was optional.

“We will not be able to do it in 2017 as time is short but we will certainly like to go ahead with it from 2018 as it has become important in the context of improving quality. In any case, the state boards are continuing with the board exams,” Chaturvedi had said.

The schools, too, have welcomed the upcoming changes in ‘no detention’ policy. “The students and parents need to understand that detention is not a punishment but it is a way of giving more time to the student to cope with the syllabus. And at the same time, the teachers, too, have to take the responsibility if the child has to be detained,” said John Rafi, principal of La Martinière for Boys’ School.

The schools across the country had no-detention policy in place till Class 5. However, after implementation of the RTE in 2009, the ‘no-detention’ policy was extended till Class 8. Now, CABE wants to go back to the old system HRD minister Prakash Javadekar has already expressed his intention to amend the RTE Act and drop the ‘no-detention’ clause and give the state governments the power to take a call in this regard While West Bengal is yet to express its view on the matter, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the only private board in the country which conducts ISC and ICSE exams, has welcomed the move While CBSE, too, is in favour of the changes, according to its chairman Rajesh Chaturvedi, the Class 10 CBSE board examinations would be revived from 2018 as there is a growing opinion in its favour. Till now, it was optional