Upgrading students on the basis of yearly assessment and without them having to appear for annual written examinations, up till class 7, would be worth the trial the government is proposing to undertake. By introducing the Liberal Promotion Policy (LPP), the government intends to achieve universal primary education by 2015. Under this system, students cannot be held up in the same class till they reach grade 7. This is how the government plans to bring down the dismal dropout rate at the primary school level, besides relieving pupils of tender age of the pressure they have felt so far from the school authorities and parents to score high marks. The marks-oriented examination system is better suited for higher classes because it helps the students gear up for global competition.

As a rule, the LPP must be applicable to one and all, irrespective of whether a student is promising or not. Since this is a new system for Nepal, it calls for professional teachers and a sound mechanism for making a correct assessment and to deal properly with child psychology. The student-teacher ratio would play a crucial role as classrooms overloaded with pupils may fail to achieve the desired results. Huge resources are also required to keep tabs on individual students. But the LPP will come to naught if it is guided only by the motive of arresting the dropout rate. It may, in fact, aggravate the already low standards of education. What is required therefore, is respect for a child’s right to education and a simultaneous boost, thereof, in the quality of education.