MUMBAI: From the next academic year,
students who are academically weak may be able to opt for an accelerated
learning programme, which will teach them three to four years’ curriculum
within one year, and help them catch up with their peers.
The principal secretary of the state
school education de partment, Nand Kumar, has put forth this proposal to reduce
the number of students failing in Class 9 and to arrest the dropout rate in
secondary sections.
Cur rently, t he state has the
highest dropout rate in Class 9- it stands at 8.9% as per the latest U-DISE
(Unified District Information System for Education) report. This is much higher
than dropout rates for other classes, which range between 1% and 3%.
According to officials, schools fail
a large number of students in class 9, and as a result the students drop out.
This trend has been aggravated with the introduction of the no- f ail policy in
2010, which provides for automatic promotion from class 1 to class 8.
“We are studying accelerated learning
programmes that have managed to teach four-and-ahalf year’s curriculum to
students in just one year,” said Kumar. “It was implemented for primary
students by a private non-profit organisation.”
The department will rope in
officials, educationists and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) working for
education to provide their suggestions to the proposal. “The idea is at a
nascent stage right now, we will finalise the details after consulting with
experts,” said Kumar.
But educationists raise concerns over
the benefits of an accelerated learning programme for secondary students. “Such
programmes can be done easily for students in primary sections, as students are
able to grasp concepts better at a young age, but it will be a little difficult
for 14-15-year-olds to study at that pace,” said Farida Lambay, cofounder,
Pratham, NGO.
City school principals welcomed the
proposal. “Owing to the no-fail policy, children have lost the practice of
writing and are hence unable to score in exams in higher classes,” said Father
Francis Swamy, principal, St Mary’s School (ICSE), Mazgaon, and the joint
secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education that runs 150-odd schools in
the city.
