Lok Sabha Question No. 210 (STARRED), answered on 2015-12-14
Subject: Retention Policy in Schools
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: PREM DAS RAI, P.P. CHAUDHARY, P.P. CHAUDHARY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.210 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.12.2015

## Retention Policy in Schools

## *210. SHRI PREM DAS RAI:

SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

Will  the  Minister  of  HUMAN  RESOURCE  DEVELOPMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether  making  Tenth  Class  board  examination  optional  has  adversely affected  the  quality  of  education  and  if  so,  whether  the  Government intends to reintroduce mandatory board exams for tenth class students;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  time  by  which  it  is  likely  to  be implemented;
- (c) whether  the  No-fail  Policy  under  the  Right  to  Education  (RTE)  Act  has lowered learning outcomes and academic levels of the students and if so, the details thereof for the last three years, State/UT-wise, class and agewise and remedial steps being taken/proposed to be taken in this regard; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  received  a  report  from  Central  Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee on Assessment and Implementation of  Continuous  and  Comprehensive  Evaluation  and  if  so,  the  outcome  of the  Report  and  action  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government thereon?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (d) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (d) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.210 FOR 14.12.2015 REGARDING 'RETENTION POLICY IN SCHOOLS' RAISED BY SHRI PREM DAS RAI AND SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY.

(a) & (b): Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) made 10 th  Class Board examination optional in 2011. Under the optional scheme of examination, those students who wish to leave CBSE system may opt for Board based examination, and those students who wish to remain with CBSE system may opt school based examination.  After introduction of optional  system  in  2011,  the  first  batch  of students  appeared  in  Class  XII  in  2013.    The  pass  percentage  of  Class  XII  of 2013  batch  was  82.10  for  students  who  opted  school  based  examination  in Class-X in 2011. Whereas the pass percentage of students who opted Class X Board examination in 2011 was 82.12 in Class XII in 2013.  This shows that the quality of education has not been affected adversely after making Class X Board examination optional. Presently, there is no proposal to re-introduce mandatory Board examination for tenth Class students.

(c): Section  16  of  the  Right  of  Children  to  Free  and  Compulsory  Education (RTE) Act, 2009 states,   'No child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class  or  expelled  from  school  till  the  completion  of  elementary  education.'  The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) was designated as  National  Academic  Authority,  which  was  mandated  to  carry  out  learning assessment  regularly.  Accordingly,  it  conducts  periodic  national  surveys  of learning  achievement of  students  of  Classes  III,  V  and  VIII.  NCERT  conducted three  rounds  of  National  Achievement  Surveys  (NAS)  so  far,  which  reveal improvement in learning achievement of students in various subjects.  Under the centrally  sponsored  scheme  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA),  States/Union Territories are supported for improvement in learning. States/UTs were provided guidelines  to  lay  down  learning  outcomes  for  elementary  classes.    NCERT  has also laid down learning outcomes and indicators for improvement in quality.  19 States  have  also  set  learning  outcomes.  Under  SSA,  'Padhe  Bharat  Badhe Bharat' is supported for improvement in reading comprehension and mathematics  in  classes  I  &  II.    Under  SSA  Rashtriya  Avishkar  Abhiyan  (RAA) programme is also supported for improvement in maths and science at upper primary level.

(d): Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in its 59 th  meeting held on 6 th June,  2012  constituted  a  sub  committee  for  assessment  of  implementation  of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in the context of no-detention provision in the RTE Act, 2009.  The Committee submitted its Report in August, 2014,  which  inter-alia  recommended  a  review  of  No-Detention  Policy  and  its implementation in a phased manner.  The CABE, in its 63 rd  Meeting held on 19 th August, 2015 deliberated the report, pursuant to which, all State Governments were  requested  to  formally  send  their  views  to  the  Ministry.    Another  Sub Committee of CABE under the Chairpersonship of Hon'ble Minister of Education, Rajasthan has been constituted on 26.10.2015 to review the feedback received from States and share their report by January 2016.

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