The process has been set in motion for the return of examinations in Classes 5 and 8 to arrest the “decline” in educational levels because of the present no-detention policy till Class 8.

The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) — the apex body on educational issues — in its 64th meeting on Tuesday advised the government to amend the Right to Education (RTE) Act to empower States to decide whether they want to do away with the no-detention policy in schools, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

He said re-examinations would be immediately conducted for students who failed in Classes 5 and 8 so that they go to the next stage.

At the same time, learning outcomes — which are mentioned in the RTE but not defined — will be codified and made part of the Right to Education Rules to assess the progress of students at the no-detention stage from Classes 1 to Class 4.

At the meeting, Tamil Nadu is learnt to have objected to making Sanskrit “compulsory.” When asked, Mr. Javadekar, who chaired the meeting, said: “They thought in the beginning that already the new education policy has been drafted. They are only proposing this. We do not have any paper of a national education policy draft right now.”

He said the National Education Policy would focus on access to education, equity, quality, accountability and affordability.

Union Ministers Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Vijay Goel and Ministers of State in the HRD Ministry Upendra Kushwaha and Mahendra Nath Pandey also attended the meet. Twenty-eight Ministers from 21 States and education secretaries of all States were present.
The meeting also decided that the five-lakh untrained teachers whose term had expired would be given a five-year extension. In three years, States would be able to train them.

Class 10 not discussed

Mr. Javadekar said that while the question of whether Class 10 CBSE exams should be made compulsory was there on the agenda, it was not discussed as it was a matter of the CBSE concerning only the MHRD and not the States. He said CABE would now meet twice a year and discuss one pressing issue at each such meeting