CABE's meeting postponed to Aug 19

The meeting of the newly- reconstituted CABE, the highest advisory body on education, has been postponed to August 19 with HRD Minister Smriti Irani planning to utilise the time to seek suggestions from states on issues to be taken up for its agenda including a new education policy and scrapping of the no-detention policy.
The meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was earlier slated for July 18 but has been postponed as the date was clashing with the Eid celebrations.
Irani will be soon be writing to state education ministers for their suggestions, while the higher education secretary would be communicating with the state chief secretaries before the agenda is finalised, officials in the Ministry said.

The thrust would be on the new education policy and the support of the state in preparing it, even as a host of other issues are set for discussions, the officials said without elaborating further.
The states would be asked to sent their suggestions by August 5.
Reconstituted on June 11, the CABE comprises 19 nominated members from different fields, apart from ex-officio members, various Union ministers and vice-chancellors of different universities.

Anirban Ganguly, Director of Shyama Prasad Mookherjee Research Foundation, a BJP outfit, and actress Swarup Sampat, wife of BJP MP from Ahmedabad (East) Paresh Rawal, are notable nominated members in the body, which is headed by the HRD Minister.

Much of the focus on August 19 would be on a sub-committee report prepared under the then Haryana education minister Geeta Bukkal about no-detention policy up to class VIII and its impact on learning outcome in classes.
While the report has favoured doing away the policy introduced under Right To Education (RTE) Act which entails automatic class promotion, the Ministry has remained silent on the issue so far, stating that CABE would take it for consideration.
While some states have already removed the provision, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is learnt to have requested Irani earlier this week for the removal of the policy.