Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said the Centre was planning to bring amendments to change the no-detention policy. Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, no child between eight and 14 years can be detained in a class.
Speaking to journalists in Kolkata on the completion of four years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre, the Minister said: “changes in the no-detention policy will be a reality by August this year.”
He expressed the hope that by March 2019, the students would appear for examination in Class V and Class VIII.
Reducing the syllabus
Mr. Javadekar said many States, including West Bengal, had expressed their willingness to reintroduce the pass-fail system. “We have given the States the full freedom to implement or not implement the no-detention policy. Many States have agreed to the proposal and for the others who have not, we respect their freedom,” the Minister said. The Minister also said the Ministry was working to reduce the NCERT syllabus by half over the next two academic sessions by 2020. A portion of the syllabus would be reduced in 2019 and the rest in 2020. “We have received about 37,000 suggestions subject-wise and class-wise,” he said.
Mr. Javadekar said that while reducing the syllabus, attempts would be made to augment co-curricular activities so that students are not reduced to memorising but develop comprehension and analytical skills.
All government schools would be given an annual grant to buy sports kits. Grant would also be given to develop libraries, he said.
