The Right to Education Forum, Odisha chapter has opposed the State Government’s decision to scrap the “No Detention Policy” (NDP) from Class-VIII and reintroduce the pass-fail system from the current academic session.
The rights body said that by the pass-fail system children from marginalised community would be affected and the number of out-of-school children would increase.
A member of the body said the academic performance of every child is depended on their family and school environment, teaching methodology, contextual teaching learning materials and others. The Government needs to understand that if children are not performing well it is not their fault, the member added.
The member said the Government has not implemented the NDP in letter and spirit, adding that, the NDP should be implemented along with Continuous and Comprehensive Assessment (CCA) which was not done.
Much before the enactment of the RTE Act 2009, Odisha was pioneer in implementing the NDP up to Class-VII and many southern region States are not in favour of scraping the NDP, the body added. The members said before taking such major decision the Government should have consulted the State Advisory Committee and urged the Chief Minister to reconsider the decision.