Class 5 and 8 students likely to face annual exams

New Delhi: With a survey indicating the need for significant improvement in their learning levels, the government on Thursday indicated that students of Classes 5 and 8 may have to appear for annual examinations.

"According to an annual survey by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on the learning achievement of children in Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10, there is a need for significant improvement in learning levels," Minister of State for Human Resource Development Upendra Kushwaha told the Rajya Sabha.

"The survey also noted that the learning level of children depends on several factors, including socio-economic, socio-geographic, the educational background of the students, availability of basic infrastructure/amenities in schools, availability of trained and competent teachers in the schools and so on," the Minister said in a written reply.

Citing section 29 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, Kushwaha said the schools and respective governments are free to conduct periodic examinations for children of all levels. 

Section 29 stipulates that there should be Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) of every child to assess their learning levels and provide additional instruction accordingly.

"Under the CCE framework, schools and respective governments are free to conduct periodic examinations for children of all levels," said the Minister. 

Earlier in October, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) had agreed for amending the 'no detention policy' under the RTE Act and allow the state governments to decide on introducing annual examinations for students of Classes 5 and 8.

Under the 'no detention policy', students up to Class 8 are automatically promoted to the next class without being held back even if they do not get a passing grade. 

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, earlier in the month had said that the government will reintroduce compulsory Class 10 board examination for CBSE schools from the 2017-18 academic year.