Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday announced a school education reform programme titled -- “Chunauti 2018” -- to enable students studying in government schools, especially Class 9, to overcome the adverse effects of the “no detention policy”.“The idea behind 'Chunauti 2018' is that by the year 2018, all students enrolled in Class 9th in the academic year 2016-2017, regardless of their learning levels at this point, will be trained and mentored to successfully appear for Class 10 examinations in 2018,” Sisodia said adding, “No child will be left behind.” “Due to 'no detention policy' the percentage of student failing in Class 9 has increased in the last few years. In the academic year 2013-14 as many as 44 per cent students failed in Class 9 while in 2014-15 the figure became 48 per cent. In the academic year 2015-16 nearly 49 per cent students failed in Class 9 exam,” Sisodia said.
He added that it was the result of “no detention policy” in which teachers were not allowed to fail students between Classes 6 and 8 even when they were not fit to be passed to the next class.“This policy is weakening the foundation of the students in Classes 6, 7, and 8,” he said.Sisodia said that through this programme, the government aims to build a strong foundation among all students in reading, writing, arithmetic, bridging the gap between current learning levels and the academic demands of their class. In order to achieve this, the government has decided to regroup all students from classes 6 to 9 based on a base line assessment, which will be conducted in the second week of July, he said.Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, said students who have failed twice or more in Class 9 would be provided the option of appearing for Class 10 exams through the Modified Patrachar Scheme of Examinations (MPSE). The MPSE is especially proposed to ensure retention of children and to minimise the possibility of dropout. On clearing Class 10 exam through Patrachar Vidyalaya (correspondence school), the children will be re-enrolled in regular Class 11 in the same parent government school, Sisodia said.