In an attempt to help academically weak students and put an end to the practice of schools failing such students in Class IX in order to achieve a cent per cent pass result in the Class X board exams, the state government will introduce its ‘Rapid Education’ initiative.
The move has been initiated following a state government report that said over 1.5 lakh students failed in Class IX in April 2016.
The state school education department has sought a list of Class IX students who failed in the exams in April and October 2016 and also of those who secured less than 45 per cent in the midterm exam. The class teachers are expected to prepare the list before implementing the Rapid Education initiative. For students who secured less than 45 per cent, the education department suggested, the method of Experience, Reflection, Application and Consolidation (ERAC) would be adopted.
“In these two methods, the teachers are expected to divide activities over a period of two months in which 15 days can be dedicated to identifying the weakness of each student and application of teaching methods to overcome these weakness. Another 30 days can then be utilised for self-study and the remaining 15 days for problem-solving, among others,” said Nand Kumar, Principal Secretary, School Education and Sports.
A total of 1,54,381 students did not clear the April 2016 annual exam in Class IX as per data revealed by the state school education department. A senior official said, “The aim of the exercise is not only to empower the academically poor students but an indirect warning has been issued to all schools across the state who indulge in the malpractice of failing weak students to achieve 100 per cent results in SSC.”
According the department, all those students who fail in Class IX either register for appearing SSC exams privately or quit schools. The department, through its new initiative, wants these students to clear their basics in Class IX before appearing for Class X and at the same time curb the chances of them dropping out.
Kumar said there were several situations in which students would end up repeating the class. “We have asked schools to state reasons why each of the student has failed and submit the same to the department by January 31,” he added.