A sub-committee of the central advisory board of education today recommended reviewing the government's "No Detention policy till 8th standard" apart from reintroduction of class 5 and 8 standard exams independently.
The panel, headed by Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema, also recommended introduction of pre-primary classes in primary schools to improve the level of students in government schools and increase the spending on education to 6 per cent of the GDP as in other countries.
The 189-page report was handed over by Cheema to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in the presence of HRD Joint Secretary-cum-member secretary of the committee Maneesh Garg and a committee member J B G Tilak, who is also the Vice Chancellor of NUEPA.
The Punjab Education Minister was made the Chairman of CABE (Central Advisory Board of Education) sub-committee formed for the purpose of improving the lot of government schools in country.
In a statement after submission of the report, Cheema said that significant aspects of the recommendations made in the report were also considered in the meeting with the Minister.
He also said that the recommendations of the report would be debated upon in the annual meeting of CABE to be held on October 25 in which all School Education and Higher Education ministers of all the states would take part.
Divulging details of the prominent recommendations made in the report, Cheema said while preparing the report, the expenditure by various countries on 'Education' was also compared after which it was recommended that a minimum of 6 per cent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) should be spent on education.
It has also recommended spending more on the elementary or primary education besides having head for every school (Head Teacher or Headmaster or Principal) compulsorily.
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Cheema said the recruitment calendar is needed to be prepared in advance in order to ensure that there remains no post vacant in the wake of superannuation.
The panel also recommended the constitution of a committee of academic experts to review the course syllabus, duration of course and practical training in vogue at present to become a teacher.
It should making provision for early childhood education/ Pre-Primary Education mandatory for all schools and sought that linking of early childhood education to Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to converge with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) and delineate responsibilities for each department.
It asked for strengthening and universalise elementary education and the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' (BBBP) programme by focusing on high girl child mortality districts rather than low child sex ration districts. Convert Existing Stand-Alone Schools into Composite Schools while keeping in view infrastructure and local population needs.
Batting for quality training during service period of teachers, the committee made a significant recommendation and said that this responsibility should be entrusted to the central, state and other universities so as to help the teacher benefit from top quality academic environment and world class infrastructure.
The committee also made recommendations emphasising strengthening of infrastructure in rural areas, state of the art facilities in schools, tackling shortage of staff, availability of transport besides expressing concern regarding children belonging to industrial labour class, immigrant workers and poor people in urban areas being deprived of the right to education due to the non-opening of new schools in the urban centres throughout the country.
The panel recommended that it should be compulsory to open schools in the new colonies in cities keeping in view the population factor.
It also called for starting of educational programmes in far off regions of the country through Doordarshan and its regional centres.
Besides this, it also included suggestions concerning safety of girls, adequate atmosphere conducive to education, maintaining school premises, problem of water and electricity bills, filling posts of 'chowkidars or sewadars', solar plants on rooftops in schools to save expenditure, rain water harvesting to conserve water in its report.
The committee has also laid emphasis on 'Shalasiddhi and Evaluate Your Own School' methodology to ensure regular evaluation of schools and connecting common masses with the sphere of education.
