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The Odisha government has come up with a fail system for classes 5 and 8 annual exams from the ongoing academic year. To make this decision work, the government has modified the Odisha Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010. Regular tests will be conducted at the end of every academic year for these classes under the new system.

Failed students will be given special coaching and a chance to re-appear for the test in two months from the declaration of the result, according to a notification issued by the School and Mass Education Department.

"All students of Class V and Class VIII will now have to appear for annual examinations. If a child fails in these examinations, he/she will be provided additional instruction and an opportunity for re-examination within two months of result declaration," read the notification.

"If the child who is being produced for re-examination.does not meet the promotion criteria again, he/she will be retained in fifth class or eighth class, as the case may be," the notification stated.

The directive mentions that no student will be dismissed from school till they complete their primary education.

In December of last year, the Government of India modified the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2010 (RTE Act 2010). The changes allow the states to administer periodic examinations to students of classes 5 and 8, and to retain students who fail. These amendments were effected five years since the RTE Act was last modified in 2019.

While this, The Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha, on 2 May announced exam results for class 10 in the academic year 2024-25.

This year, 9,031 schools took part in the Odisha Class 10 examinations. Out of 5,12,438 students who were enrolled, 8,436 students failed to report for the exams and 5,04,002 students took the exams. One student's result was withheld and 170 students were charged with malpractice. 4,85,240 students passed their Odisha Madhyma exam successfully, leaving the overall pass percentage at 94.69%.

3,272 schools have attained 100% results this year, indicating that all students from these schools have passed the Class 10 exam.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) released a notification that theatre, music and drama will be introduced from class 8th as compulsory subjects and introduced art as compulsory material. NCERT's all-round curriculum makeover will be in practice from the year 2025-2026.

This aligns with the standards set in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. This is due to its intention to give children a great, well-rounded education that incorporates arts and creative learning and conventional scholastic learning.

NCERT announced that "Art" would henceforth be re-oriented as a mandatory subject for Class 8. That is, all the children would have to study and pass the subject and move to the next year of school if they wished to or not, or if they had been schooled to anything close to art or not.

NEW TEXTBOOK 'KRITI' UNVEILED FOR CLASS 8

For this revolution, NCERT has introduced a new art book, 'Kriti'. It would be course de force of education to provide performing and visual arts. It would be utilized for giving students to theatre, music, drama, and introduction to art.

Kriti is a right move towards giving arts to school so that subjects which are innovative in nature receive as much importance as study subjects.

NEW CLASS 8 TEXT BOOKS RELEASED IN HINDI AND ENGLISH

Apart from Kriti, NCERT released new language books of Class 8 too. They are 'Poorvi', the revised new English book, and 'Malhar', the new book of Hindi. The books are for disseminating learning languages with new textbooks in the NCF-SE 2023 pattern.".

For below-average sections of Class 5 students, NCERT has introduced 'Santoor' for English and 'Veena' for Hindi to complement the overall exercise to rationalize education in modern form at all stages.

POLICY Alignment with NEP 2020

This also goes with overall reforms suggested under the NEP 2020, such as greater focus on experiential learning, creativity, and arts. With these subjects being covered from the very earliest years of secondary school, NCERT is trying to bring in total development among students.

All in all, it is a paradigm shift in education policy in India with the same amount of stress being given on intellectual as on creative growth.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) published new textbooks for Class 5 and 8, brimming with the revolutionary vision of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

These books are a giant leap towards more questioning and inquiry-based learning. With conceptual understanding, creativity, and skill development at the forefront of their new books, they try to go beyond mugging and try to spark curiosity in young minds — the kind where a good book does not tell you what has happened but makes you go on reading and find out why and how.

For Class 8, the following titles have been introduced:

Curiosity – A Science textbook that fosters scientific curiosity and discovery.

Kaushal Bodh – A Vocational Education textbook, the first one for this grade.

Malhar – A Hindi textbook with literary and language exercises.

Poorvi – An English textbook with a focus on comprehension and communication.

Kriti – An art textbook that cultivates creativity through visual expression.

For Class 5, the newly introduced textbooks are:

Veena – Hindi textbook

Santoor – English textbook

These publications arrive after previous releases of NEP-compatible textbooks for Classes 1, 2, 3, and 6, step by step paving the way for the new school education system.

But although they have been published, the new books are not yet available widely or downloadable in print or PDF. Although NCERT has already placed them on sale at Amazon, they are not yet available supplied or stocked and hence the expectations among teachers and parents are rising.

With rollout currently the priority, schools and students wait not only for bound books, but also for supporting teacher materials and resources to be able to make these textbooks come alive in classrooms nationwide.

A big shot in the arm for rural education, students of two govt schools in Sircilla are ready to participate in an eight-week online course by the prestigious IIT Madras from this August. As a part of the school connect programme by the institute, students will learn about advanced subjects including AI to law while remaining in their classrooms.

The courses, which are developed and provided by the outreach and digital education center at IIT Madras, range from a wide variety of topics like data science and AI, aerospace, architecture and design, engineering biological systems, environmental studies, law, electronic systems, humanities, and recreational modules such as 'maths unplugged' and 'fun with maths and computer'.

Government High School, Sircilla and Zilla Parishad Girls High School, Sircilla Class X students will be participating in the programme. The students will view video lessons during the week and participate in live interactive sessions with IIT professors on every Saturday.

"This is a good chance for students to be exposed to these topics and learn directly from IIT Madras. We have all the facilities required, such as big television screens, projectors, and computers to make it an interactive experience," said Dr Chakinala Srinivas, gazetted headmaster of Government High School, Sircilla.

Describing how this came about, he further said, "We grasped the opportunity and made an application for the school connect programme of IIT Madras and received word that the tie-up had been confirmed. This morning, I told the students in assembly, and they were all visibly excited."

Students who successfully undergo the programme will be awarded certificates from IIT Madras, which is an important incentive for a number of students in these schools.

"When students are exposed to multiple subjects at the school level itself, they can make an informed choice about their future profession," Dr Srinivas observed.

The move is viewed as a step towards narrowing the gap between rural students and premier educational institutions, providing them with an early push into future-oriented courses.

Turning a new page in his divide with the state government, Governor Rajendra Arlekar welcomed the Guru Purnima celebration in schools, where part of it included students washing the feet of elderly teachers. General Education Minister V Sivankutty and CPM state secretary M V Govindan criticized the practice.

Guru pooja is our culture. I don't know from which culture these individuals belong," the governor added while opening the golden jubilee celebration of Balagokulam in Balaramapuram, Thiruvananthapuram. Referring to the fact that he has received some complaints on this front, Arlekar stated that an attempt to forget our culture would result in our forgetting ourselves.

Yet, Sivankutty denied the claims of the governor. "Kerala does not have that kind of culture, and such a practice will not fare well here either," he said, calling the practice cruel. "It is unfortunate to witness individuals holding important roles like the governor making such a statement," he said.

I do not know of any Indian scripture that requests school children to wash the feet of BJP leaders," the minister stated, saying that such an activity could be considered "mental harassment" under Section 17(1) of the Right to Education Act.

Denouncing the practice, Govindan stated that the RSS is attempting to introduce activities that were a part of the traditional chaturvarnya system.

The row was initiated when pictures and videos of children washing the feet of elderly teachers as a part of Guru Purnima celebrations emerged from schools in the state. Sivankutty has directed the director of general education to ask schools for an explanation.

The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also filed a suo motu case in the matter, informing that all such incidents will be covered under the same case.

In a very shocking twist of events, a Class 6 boy died under mysterious circumstances within his school hostel in the Kasganj district of the Uttar Pradesh state, sending a red alert over campus security and student health.

Anurag, a 13-year-old boy of Gurukul School, who resided within the school hostel. In the morning of Tuesday when the school was all set to begin another ordinary day, tragedy struck the school. When the class monitor went to wake up Anurag, he was confronted with a ghastly sight—blood was oozing from the boy's nose and ears. The hostel staff carried the dead body to the nearest hospital, where upon arrival, he was declared dead.

Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi, who had himself undertaken the case, said an inquiry was underway despite no complaint having been lodged by the family. "Six police teams have been formed to inquire into the incident in detail," he told the media.

Accompanied by the Additional Superintendent of Police Diksha Bhawre, SP Dwivedi visited the school campus, met hostel staff and students, and recorded their statements. The authorities are not leaving any stone unturned, and the last hours of Anurag's life on earth are being tried to be reconstructed.

The premature death of the young boy stunned and enraged people. Questions haunt the cause—medical emergency, negligence, or something else?

The school administration has remained tight-lipped until now, but in the coming days, the school authorities will certainly face interrogation.

Like in all such ongoing investigations, Anurag's family is left with questions and despair. The mishap has once again highlighted safety provisions in boarding schools, especially in the case of children outside home and institutional care.