The International Journal of Indian Psychology
The “Right to Education Act 2009” accommodates no confinement of any understudy till Class
VIII. Be that as it may, there has been much civil argument on this condition, with surmounting
weight for renouncement of the No-Detention Policy and Continuous and Comprehensive
Learning. In any case, "No confinement" does not signify "no evaluation". CCE is the
assessment technique under NDP, where evaluation is for learning" and not mere passing or
failing.
The present study is to assess the effect of No Detention Policy on schools under four major
boards in West Bengal named, State Govt. School Board, State Govt. Madrasah Board, CBSE
Board and ICSE Board. To perform the same, three unique sorts of Schedules to be specific as
Schedule –T, Schedule –P and Schedule –S have been set up for instructors, Parents and
Students respectively to assess the effect of NDP by the relative investigation of these three
schedules. After near study it is found that ICSE board is slightest affected and WBMB are
exceedingly affected by this policy, rest board is in the middle of these two boards. The order in
which the schools are influenced are as following ICSE board, CBSE board, WBSEB & [In
ascending order]
ABSTRACT
ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (p)
Volume 3, Issue 4, No. 68, DIP: 18.01.198/20160304
ISBN: 978-1-365-39398-3
http://www.ijip.in | July-September, 2016
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on
Different School Boards in West Bengal
S Rehan Ahmad
1
*, Ajay Kumar Behera
2
, Mohammad Un Nisa
3
Keywords: No Detention Policy, CBSE Board, ICSE Board, West Bengal Secondary Board, West
Bengal Madrasah Board
“No detention policy” is a kind of educational policy which is mentioned in Section 16 of the
RTE mandates that no child can be detained or held back in a class until the completion of
his/her elementary education. In 2012, the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD)
crystallised its position on the NDP as follows, “The ‘no detention’ provision is made because
examinations are often used for eliminating children who obtain poor marks. Once declared
1
Indira Gandhi National Open University, India
2
Indira Gandhi National Open University, India
3
Seacom Skills University, India
*Responding Author
© 2016, S Ahmad, Behera A. K., M Nisa; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 71
‘fail’, children either repeat grade or leave the school altogether. Compelling a child to repeat a
class is de-motivating and discouraging.” It was also clarified that the CCE is “a procedure that
will be non-threatening, releases the child from fear and trauma of failure and enables the teacher
to pay individual attention to the child’s learning and performance”. As asserted by several
educationists and academics, the no-detention policy (NDP) and CCE are based on sound
principles of pedagogy and assessment, recognised world-wide. They are thus a welcome change
to the exam-centric culture prevalent in Indian schools. There are also very strong equity
considerations behind the NDP policy, especially for children from low-income families, and
girls. Failure for these children implies dropping out, as alluded to in the MHRD position. In
fact, wastage in the schooling system due to high repetition and high dropout rates has been a
major concern since the 1990s. The no-detention clause in the RTE Act seeks to address that
concern. Besides, research evidence indicates that detention of students by a year or more does
not improve learning. Even the Geeta Bhukkal Committee—a sub-committee under CABE set
up to look into this matter—admits that there is no research anywhere in the world which
establishes that repeating a year helps children perform better. But research does say that
repeating has adverse academic and social effects on the child. These days the intellectuals,
educationists, politicos and national press are involved in discussing the reports on the erupted
controversy whether to continue with the enlightened and progressive present system of’ No
Detention’ Policy of Education or go back to old beaten track, an authoritarian system of pass-
fail binary. The central government is treading sagaciously and cautiously and will take any final
decision on the receipt of written responses from all the states of the country, albeit maximum
Indian state governments are against the continuation of ‘No Detention’ policy of Education.
According to news reports, educationists say,” Just by failing students you cannot make them
good learners”. Majority of the teachers are very critical about ‘No Detention’ and ‘No
Punishment’ factors of enlightened and progressive system of education and firmly hold them
responsible for low standard of education and indiscipline among the students. ” The educational
institutes of the nation are grappling with the present system of education that is responsible for
the failing of students in class XI and having a very low standard of teaching learning process
being carried out especially in rural government institutes of the country”, Said an eminent
educationist.
These days whereas there must have been no year wise curriculum and the child should have
been allowed to move at his own speed. But it becomes necessary that when student moves from
8th class to 9th class rather from “No Detention’ to ‘Detention policy’ it is to be made sure that
upto the 9th class, the knowledge, skills, and values organised in the curriculum have been learnt
by the children but in actual practice this is not being done. The other factor that is marring the
well thought out policy of education is the ill trained teaching personnel. It has been observed in
the past few years , that the number of repeating students in class ninth is on the increase .For
instance in Delhi ,the number of failing students as a percentage of total students enrolled in
class ninth rose from2.8% in 2010 to a startling 13.4% in 2014 as per DISE DATA and in
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 72
Chandigarh 27% of class ninth students studying in government schools have failed their exams
this year. What is cause of it? Major section of society believes that it is because of ‘No
Detention’ policy of education brought under the RTE that ensures that no student can be failed
before 9
TH
.
It is worthwhile to mention here that deteriorating standard of education in all the schools across
the country is because of the controversial no detention policy of education.
As per above data still it is very difficult to say whether this policy is good or bad so I have
decided to critically analyse the said policy in my home state ( West Bengal ) in concerned to
four major schools boards namely , State Govt. , CBSE Board , ICSE Board and Madrasah
Board .
Objective of the study
1.
To Obtain views of teachers, parents and students with regard to ‘No Detention Policy’ in
all the four boards in West Bengal.
2.
To know reasons behind increasing inefficiency among teachers in all the four boards in
West Bengal.
3.
To know about performance of students in all the four boards in West Bengal.
4.
To know the maximum and least affected board by this policy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In present work we have prepared different schedules namely as Schedule – T , Schedule – P and
Schedule – S for getting response from teachers/Headmasters , Parents and Students respectively
on “ No Detention Policy ” .
Survey Method have been used to test the Comparative Impact of No Detention Policy ” on
different Schools boards in West Bengal in which we have placed the Schedule – T , Schedule
– P and Schedule – S for getting response from teachers/Headmasters , Parents and Students
respectively to know notion of Teachers , Parents and Students respectively .
Tools and technique used for data collection
In this project we made three type of Schedules namely , Schedule- T , Schedule- P and
Schedule- S which have 32 , 20 and 20 questions administered to the teachers , parents and
students respectively to know their view regarding the No Detention Policy
Population of the study
In my study population is students of Class – VIII of different boards are as follows
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 73
Sl.
No
No. of Institutions taken from
each boards
Population on which study to
be conducted
01
2 Bengali Medium
2 Hindi Medium
2 Urdu medium
Students of Class –
VIII
02
2 English Medium
03
2 English Medium
04
2 Bengali Medium
2 Urdu medium
Total No . of Institutions taken from four boards in each District is 14
Table 01: Details of Boards, Medium and Class
Procedure of data collection
In this project we have used three Schedules as tools for collection of data as once I have
placed the Schedule – T , Schedule – P & Schedule – S in front of Teachers , Parents and
Students respectively they expressed their opinion by darkening the circle [⚫] in respective
schedules , which I needed to come at a conclusion regarding No Detention Policy . I have
mailed questionnaire to certain schools in different districts wherever I cannot reach to get the
repose.
Procedure of data analysis
After collection of data with the help of three schedules T, P & S from each institution, all the
data were comparatively analysed. Every questions from all the three Schedules are
comparatively matched and analysed to come at a conclusion regarding respective arena .The
three schedules are as follows.
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 74
SCHEDULE - T
01
Name of the Interviewer
S . REHAN AHMAD
02
Name of the
Institution
03
Medium of Institution
HINDI
ENGLISH
BENGALI
URDU
04
Name of Board
WBBSE
CBSE
ICSE
WBMSE
05
Class involved in the
study
CLASS- VIII
06
Respondent’s
Designation
Teacher
Pr. / HM
Para-Tr.
Parents
07
Time of the Interview
Morning
Afternoon
08
Is your Institution following NDP ?
YES
NO
09
Is your Institution followings this NDP willingly or
unwillingly ?
YES
NO
10
Are you in favour of NDP ?
YES
NO
11
Are you following NDP since the day of its
implementation ?
YES
NO
12
Do you think it is beneficial for the students
YES
NO
13
Do you think other boards are implementing NDP
better than your board
YES
NO
14
Are NDP works equally functional in all the four
Boards ?
YES
NO
15
Are all the teachers still giving their best to make
students learn as before NDP ?
YES
NO
16
Do all the four boards implement this policy
seriously
YES
NO
17
Is NDP making the teachers careless , irresponsible
and inefficient ?
YES
NO
18
Is NDP failing to draw the best of teachers ?
YES
NO
19
Does NDP give opportunity to teachers to be
competent ?
YES
NO
20
Is NDP hindering the progress of students ?
YES
NO
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 75
21
Why failing and repeating rate of students are
increasing in class IX ?
YES
NO
21
Is NDP responsible for failing of students in class IX ?
YES
NO
22
Is it equally good in ground realty as shown in paper ?
YES
NO
23
Is it making students less attentive towards their
studies ?
YES
NO
24
Is it reducing competitive spirit in students ?
YES
NO
25
Does this policy make the teachers more irresponsible
towards their duties ?
YES
NO
26
Is it increasing inefficiency among teachers ?
YES
NO
27
Is it restricting teachers enhancing their knowledge ?
YES
NO
28
Have the teachers become more careless in the class
after NDP ?
YES
NO
29
Have the teachers become less punctual in the class
after NDP ?
YES
NO
30
Has the Managing Committee become more lenient
in academic part after NDP ?
YES
NO
31
Are students not worrying about their failure in the
class after NDP ?
YES
NO
32
Should NDP be continued as an Education Policy
YES
NO
Table -02: Schedule – T for Teachers / Headmaster / Para-Teacher
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
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SCHEDULE – P
Sl.
No
Name of the Interviewer
S . REHAN AHMAD
01
Name of the Parent
02
Medium of Institution in
which his/her offspring
studying .
HINDI
ENGLISH
BENGALI
URDU
03
Name of Board in which
his/her offspring studying
.
WBBSE
CBSE
ICSE
WBMSE
04
Class in which his/her
offspring studying
CLASS- VIII
05
Respondent’s Relation
Father Mother Guardian
06
Time of the PTA Meeting
Morning
Afternoon
07
Are you happy with NDP?
YES
NO
08
Is your offspring studying same as earlier ?
YES
NO
09
Are you in favour of NDP ?
YES
NO
10
Are you worrying about your offspring’s pass / fail still
as earlier?
YES
NO
11
Do you think it is beneficial for the students
YES
NO
12
Do you think other boards are implementing NDP better
than your board
YES
NO
13
Is this policy fruitful for your offspring’s
YES
NO
14
Should this policy to be continued?
YES
NO
15
Is this policy good in competitive world?
YES
NO
16
Do your offspring pay attention to his/her studies like
earlier
YES
NO
17
Do you think teachers are giving equal attention as earlier
YES
NO
18
Does this policy reduces competitive spirit
YES
NO
19
Is this policy necessary for your offspring’s educational
growth ?
YES
NO
20
Should Govt. withdraw this policy ?
YES
NO
Table -03: Schedule – P for Parents
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 77
Table -04: Schedule – S for Students
SCHEDULE – S
01
Name of the Interviewer
S . REHAN AHMAD
02
Name of the Parent
03
Medium of Institution
HINDI
ENGLISH
BENGALI
URDU
04
Name of Board
WBBSE
CBSE
ICSE
WBMSE
05
Class
CLASS- VIII
06
Time of the PTA Meeting
Morning
Afternoon
07
Are you happy with NDP ?
YES
NO
08
Are you studying same as earlier ?
YES
NO
09
Are you in favour of NDP ?
YES
NO
10
Are you worrying of pass / fail still as earlier ?
YES
NO
11
Do you think it is beneficial for you .
YES
NO
12
Do you think other boards are implementing NDP
better than your board
YES
NO
13
Is this policy fruitful for you ?
YES
NO
14
Should this policy to be continued ?
YES
NO
15
Is this policy good in competitive world ?
YES
NO
16
Do you pay attention to his/her studies like earlier
YES
NO
17
Do you think teachers are giving equal attention as
earlier
YES
NO
18
Does this policy reduces competitive spirit
YES
NO
19
Is this policy necessary for your offspring’s educational
growth ?
YES
NO
20
Should Govt. withdraw this policy ?
YES
NO
DISCUSSION AND RESULT
West Bengal is highly populated state it has 20 districts excluding newly formed Asasnol –
Durgapur so it has more or less 6323 Institutions run by Govt. of West Bengal and state has more
or less 241 Institutions affiliated by CBSE Board and 135 Institutions affiliated by ICSE Board
and 710 Madrasahs run by state Govt. It is very difficult to analysis the impact of NDP in
different institutions under four boards in the West Bengal but somehow we managed to travel
continuously for sixty days throughout the 20 districts of West Bengal to collect the data from
different institutions by taking personal interview of the teachers , Principal, Headmaster, Parents
and students depending on the availability of respective personalities After a rigorous work
throughout the West Bengal with concern to the Impact of “No Detention Policy” over the four
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 78
boards in the said state , we come to know that the impact of “No Detention Policy” over the
four boards in state is different from our imagination.
After the analysis of these three Schedules T, P , & S we summaries our result as :
General observations find in all the four board;
✓ By Schedules T, P & S; it has been revealed that the NDP is implemented successfully
in all the district of West Bengal.
✓ By Schedule T, P & S; It has been revealed that the 70% academician are not happy with
this policy.
✓ By Schedule T, P & S; It has been revealed that the 30 % academician are happy with
this policy.
✓ By Schedule T, P & S; It has been revealed that the 70 % academician think it will spoil
the carrier of students. Whereas 30 % academician believe that it will not the carrier the
of student.
✓ By Schedule T, P & S; It has been revealed that the student are taking study seriously by
the academician.
✓ By Schedule T, P & S ; It has been revealed that the students of class –IX facing
problems as they are used to pass the class before it without giving a stress on study now
once they give test to pass class –IX and if they take it as usual as before they failed in
exam .
✓ By Schedule T, P & S; It has been revealed that the students are not paying attention on
study as were paid before ( No Detention Policy ) RTE Act 2009 .
Observations fond in State Govt. board institution by schedules T, P & S
N.D.P. after being implemented in successfully in all the districts of West Bengal since 2013
session doing well in papers. On the contrary it has been observed that it is student’s career
because they do not pay full attention to their study as they know they will be promoted to next
class automatically. On the other hand teachers are becoming inefficient, less punctual and
careless toward their duty as teacher as they are not teaching with full energy and enthusiasm
because they know students will pass without any stress. As result students’ respect towards
teachers and vice versa is decreasing day by day after this policy. At the same time Managing
Committees are becoming lenient regarding school functioning .In state aided institutions ,Hindi
and Urdu medium schools were doing poor before N.D.P., but after this Hindi medium
institution were same as earlier but Urdu medium institution are doing bad to worse.
Observations fond in CBSE board Institutions by schedules T, P & S
By schedule It is observed that N.D.P. after being implemented I successfully in all the districts
of West Bengal since 2013 session doing well in papers in C.B.S.E. institutions like all other
boards irrespective of the fact that it spoils the career of students as they do not pay full attention
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 79
to their study as they know they will be promoted to next class automatically at the time of final
board examination maximum students opt to take their examination as it provides them a option
to take either external or internal exams. This internal examination put over them least study
pressure which lead them to pass without deep study which make it difficult for them to do well
in competitive examinations like IIT, JEE, PMT etc. . On the other hand teachers are becoming
inefficient, less punctual and careless toward their duty as teacher as they are not teaching with
full energy and enthusiasm because they know students will pass without any stress. As a result
student’s respect towards teachers and vice versa is decreasing day by day after this policy.
Managing committees are also becoming less careful while appointing teachers, as earlier they
use to appoint teachers who are well educated , experienced whom they had to pay more but now
they appoint someone who just fulfill the academic requirements and ready to work in much less
salary.
Observations fond in ICSE board Institutions by schedule T, P & S
In the case ICSE affiliated institutions, it is found that NDP is not implemented very
successfully I all the districts of West Bengal, as there are certain institutions which do not
follow this policy ,but this policy is doing well in paper in the institutions whichever have
implemented it. I m extremely happy to say that it is the only board among the four boards which
is least affected by this policy and doing well irrespective of the fact that few institutions have
implemented this policy but let the students or teachers to be lenient towards their duties and
responsibilities .In ICSE institutions pass and fail phenomenon is seen which leads to deep study
by students, as result they can manage to do better in competitive examinations such as IIT, JEE,
PMT etc. Teachers in ICSE institute are still attentive responsible and punctual in classes as
earlier. Managing committees are too strict while appointing teachers, as earlier they use to
appoint teachers, who are well educated, experienced in all respect.
Observations fond in state Govt. Madrasahs Board
N.D.P. after being implemented in successfully in all the districts of West Bengal since 2013
session doing well in papers. On the contrary it has been observed that it is student’s career
because they do not pay full attention to their study as they know they will be promoted to next
class automatically. On the other hand teachers are becoming inefficient, less punctual and
careless toward their duty as teacher as they are not teaching with full energy and enthusiasm
because they know students will pass without any stress. As result students’ respect towards
teachers and vice versa is decreasing day by day after this policy.
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 80
STUDENTS
TEACHERS
PARENTS
ADMIN.
10
8
6
4
2
CBSE
ICSE
SGS
SGM
0
Before NDP Ater NDP
Pie Diagram showing % of success in over all after of implementation NDP
Pie Diagram Showing % of Happiness by Different Groups with this policy
Graph showing impact on different boards before and after NDP
ICSE
CBSE
SGS
SGM
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 81
Performance of teachers in four boards before and after NDP
CONCLUSION
“No detention policy” is a kind of educational policy which is mentioned in Section 16 of the
RTE mandates that no child can be detained or held back in a class until the completion of
his/her elementary education. Generally a technology made for betterment of human being,
spoils the society if it is used wrongly. Same here Govt. made this programme for the betterment
of students but here students take it other way and misusing it. In my work, we found that the
four boards more or less implemented this programme completely. Among four boards ICSE
board is the only board which is least affected board and this board is successfully running their
academic curriculum as they were doing before the NDP. In case of ICSE board students and
teachers both are giving best as they were doing before NDP. So the carrier of students will not
be affected at all by this policy and teachers are also performing well to maintain their status as
before NDP. However in conclusion for ICSE board I can say that their students are still
performing the same as they were performing before NDP. In case of CBSE board, I can say
that they are affected by the NDP somehow in respect of students as well as teachers. It was a
time when students were very serous towards their studies before NDP but now they are not so
serious as they were. However in conclusion for CBSE board I can say that their students are
deteriorating day by day. In case of state govt. institutions the result is different in different
medium, among the three medium Bengali medium institutions are least affected by this
programme, Hindi medium institutions are 2
nd
affected and Urdu medium institutions are highly
affected by this programme. Before NDP Bengali medium institutions were performing well but
after implementation of said policy this medium’s students are not performing well because they
are not serious as they were earlier. But Hindi medium students were slightly serious before the
implementation and now after implementation of said policy they are performing bad to worse.
The last but not the least the medium worse affected by this policy is Urdu medium they were
Performance of Tr.s before and after
NDP
Tr. after NDP
Tr. before NDP
SGM
2
5
SGS
5
7
CBSE
7
9
ICSE
10
10
A Comparative Study of Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 82
How to cite this article: S Ahmad, Behera A. K., M Nisa (2016), A Comparative Study of
Impact of “No Detention Policy” on Different School Boards in West Bengal, International
Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 3, Issue 4, No. 68, ISSN:2348-5396 (e), ISSN:2349-3429
(p), DIP:18.01.198/20160304, ISBN:978-1-365-39398-3
neither performing well before the NDP nor after implementation of it. I cay that they were
deteriorating before NDP now after implementation of it they are going towards bad to worse
condition. There are two medium in case of State Govt. Madrasahs one is Bengali and other is
Urdu medium. The condition of Bengali medium Madrasahs are more or less similar to Bengali
medium school and the condition of Urdu medium Madrasahs were bad before NDP and after
implementation of the said policy it is worse than anything.
Table – 06 List of Boards showing best to worse from top to bottom
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thanks to his father Late Syed Moinuudin and his mother Late
Mosharrat Jahan who always been a source of inspiration for him . He also thanks to his wife
Mohammad Un Nisa for being at each step throughout the work. He also thanks to all sisters
(Nooree, Dazy and Uzma) and brother (Md Shahnawaz Alam ) for their constant motivation. The
author also thanks to all his friends and colleges for helping in said work especially Parwez
Alam, Sanum Hashmi and Firdous Mam.
REFERENCES
RTE (2009).MHRD, Govt. of India, website: mhrd.gov.in.
SSA Website: http://ssa.nic.in/
RTE: 2nd year review report published by HRD Ministry (http://ssa.nic.in/rte)
CABE: 9th meeting report, June 2012. 5. Newspapers: The Hindu, the Telegraph, Economic
Times. National Policy of Education-1986, 1992.
NCF (2005). NCERT, New Delhi.
DISE (District Information system for education) Report 2009-10.
Sl. No
BOARD
MEDIUM
01
ICSE Board’s Schools
English medium
02
CBSE Board’s Schools
English medium
03
State Govt. & Govt.- Aided’s Schools
Bengali medium
04
State Govt. & Govt.- Aided s schools
Hindi medium
05
State Govt. & Govt.- Aided Schools
Urdu medium
06
State Govt. & Govt.- Aided Madrasah
Bengali medium
07
State Govt. - Aided Madrasahs
Urdu medium