No exam till Class VIII in city schools

According to the draft rules,the UT Administration will notify an ‘academic authority’ for the purpose of framing curriculum and evaluation procedure for elementary education within one month from the notification of the rules.

Education Secretary Ram Niwas said: “As per the draft RTE rules,there will be no examination,in any form,for any student till Class VIII. This rule is applicable to both government and private schools. There will be an evaluation mechanism formulated by the department for these classes on the basis of which the students will be promoted to higher classes. This should be applicable from the new academic session for which all schools would be issued instructions soon.”

While fixing the curriculum and carrying out evaluation,the rules say,the academic authority would take into consideration all-round development of the child,elimination all kinds of fear,trauma and anxiety and helping her express views freely,building up the child’s knowledge,potential and talent.

The academic authority will prepare guidelines for putting into practice the continuous and comprehensive evaluation of a child’s understanding of knowledge and ability to apply them. Designing and implementation of a process of quality assessment on regular basis will also be the responsibility of the authority.

On the award of certificates,the draft rules say the certificate of completion of elementary education will be issued at the school level within one month of the completion of elementary education. These certificates will contain the student’s cumulative record till Class VIII.

The UT education department has recently sent instructions to all schools pertaining to the admission procedure to be adopted till Class VIII. According to the instructions,admissions will be undertaken only through a draw of lots,which will be shot on video camera and no parent,guardian or the child will be made to undergo any screening.

Special training

The management committee of a school will identify children who require special training. The training will be based on a specially designed learning material approved by the academic authority. It could be either provided by teachers working in the school or by the ones specially appointed for the purpose,in classes held on the school premises or organised elsewhere. The training will be for a minimum of three months,which can be extended on the basis of periodical assessment of learning progress for a maximum period not exceeding two years.