Failure to achieve a certain percentage in standardised exams have long been connected with inadequate educational development. In other words, if a student failed to secure 35% marks (say) in quite a few exams, he/she is deemed unfit to advance into the next class as the student’s current knowledge base is not adequate to learn the complex topics of the next grade. The obvious action is to make the student repeat the previous class. Relearn the previous topics, rework the assignments and try again next year to secure a passing grade. This method of helping struggling students is quite prevalent in the Indian education system. But when the Western system is slowly doing away with failing school students, the legitimacy of the process has to be questioned. Should we continue to make students repeat classes? Does it help?
At times, repeating a class makes sense
When the best schools in Noida Extension still follow the system of failing students, it must mean that they have their good reasons. It is, in fact, irrefutable that a student who struggled to learn the topics of one class and failed to secure the passing grade, as a result, will struggle even further in the next class. Here, repeating naturally makes sense. If the schools feel that relearning can help the student to catch up and the motive is to give him/her more time to learn at his/her own pace, staying back in a class will do good to the student.
Plus, repeating a class also makes sense during the following circumstances.
- The student missed school for a long time owing to some sickness or family trouble.
- The student suffers from some developmental or learning disability and hence takes more time than normal to catch up.
- Or, the student is too young for the current class and struggling to comprehend the topics.
The initial call to make the student repeat a class is naturally taken by the teachers. They are always best placed to judge the child’s academic advancement. If the reason is justified, if it can help to progress education, in the long run, repeating a class is necessary.
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