No detention worst thing that can happen to a child: DPS Principal

She has 32 years of experience in academics

Aditi Misra, 56, a career teacher with 32 years of experience now heads the Delhi Public School in Gurugram, which has over 6,000 students. A seasoned academician, Misra spoke to Anjuli Bhargava on the changes being considered at the policy level for school education and what she thinks needs to be done. Edited excerpts:

What do you think of the reintroduction of the tenth board examinations and what are your views on CCE?

Reintroduction of the board exam in Class 10 was what majority of parents, students, teachers and principals wanted. As a school and as an educator, I felt doing away with the board was an opportunity to try a different kind of approach.

People were very skeptical to begin with, but as an educator, I saw this as a way for students to explore new talents. When art became a compulsory part of evaluation, instead of making all students do art, we decided to get them to appreciate art. Let the child not draw if that’s not what excites him. Teach them about various artists, teach them about various forms of art, folk art — they should be able to see a Madhubani and identify it.

The second thing that made me very hopeful was that my kids, who were struggling with a pen and paper test, suddenly started doing better with comprehensive and continuous evaluation (CCE). Any assessment pattern had two parts to it; one was the regular pen and paper test but the other half was more creative with elements of art, brochure making, street play, etc.. So many who scored less in the pen and paper made up partly in the second bit. It made them feel so good about themselves. I didn’t let them do the projects at home because, otherwise, we find parents doing them instead of the children. So for us it came like a breath of fresh air. We didn’t let go of the rigor of academics, but we managed to make it more fun, hands-on and child friendly.

Then why hasn’t it worked better?

There is a set of teachers, principals, parents and children who feel only the pen and paper thing works and nothing else. The mind-set is yet to change. There was a lot of training by the CBSE, but not many people could appreciate its full benefits, I think.

I also found some were closed to the idea in a sense. Remember, CCE also means a lot more work for the teachers for the same remuneration.

Perhaps some parents and educators also saw the CCE as a way of removing “rigour”. There was a concern that how would these students withstand the rigour of higher education. 

A few years ago,  there was a meeting of principals, 40-50 teachers and around 80 children with the last CBSE head. Students were picked out from among those who wrote to give feedback to CBSE  One of our students also attended this. He came back and said that everybody at the meeting wanted the board examination back. One of the reasons was that if they didn’t have the tenth board, then 12th became the first serious external board and a lot hinges on it. So they’d rather have a go at it earlier.

We had quite a few children in jitters over the 12th board but then we had many in jitters on the 10th board too. But in general, we found that the students were more confident when they had been through one board experience. 

What is your view on no detention ?

That I think is the worst thing that can happen to a child and to a school. I prefer not to call it detention; I call it giving a second chance. So if they have not cleared Class 3 and you push the child into the next class, it’s much like building an edifice with a very weak foundation. It is going to crumble one day.

So either, we should say no detention till Class 12, but we should not say no detention till a certain class. Many students clear their year with dismal scores. It may be better for them to actually stay back and grasp concepts rather than just being pushed on with compromised levels of understanding.

Do you manage to get good teachers? 

Yes, this is a big struggle. Anybody with good English skills, coming from a good background and a reasonable education at 27-28 today, can easily earn Rs 1 lakh or so a month. A teacher starts off at Rs 30,000 with similar qualifications! 

Having said that, teaching is a vocation. People who are passionate about teaching, mentoring children and enjoy being with children should get into this profession.