Section 16 is a most unwholesome piece of legislation concocted by Kapil Sibal. The fact is that there are students who simply do not have certain aptitudes. For instance, there are students with an aversion to mathematics (this can also be hindi or history or any other subject) and no amount of continuous and comprehensive evaluation or coaching is going to bring them up to the mark. Promoting such students simply because of the act says so is not going to improve their knowledge. These students would tend to be misfits in the next class.
There are students who because of their home related problems which could stem from a number of social and domestic factors are a distraction and a disturbance to the other students of the class. In the absence of counseling and sterner application of truancy laws, there are students who could be literally twiddling their thumbs and playing the fool the whole year round and there would neither be any disciplinary action against them nor would there be any detention. There are times when disciplinary action is a must to preserve the academic sanctity of an educational institution. Indian Education has been characterized by its adherence to values of respect, discipline and obedience to the teacher. Must we adopt western values when these would tend to corrupt our institutions? In the absence of the deterrent of detention, there would be no incentive on the part of teachers, students and parents to see that the students study. The human mind is geared to line of least resistance. The line of least resistance would be no homework, no assignments, forget maintaining journals, do not attend classes while you can play the fool in the canteen or the library and generally have a good time in class throwing paper arrows at the teacher. Have fun kids, but be prepared for a few shocks when you enter the world of work later on. -- Tony de Sa. tonydesa at gmail dot com ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
