The Centre has scrapped the no-detention policy in schools governed by it, including Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, allowing students of Classes 5 and 8 to be held back from the ongoing academic session.
The decision will impact around 3,000 Central schools, including Sainik Schools, which function under the Ministry of Defence, and Eklavya Model Residential Schools, under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
It comes five years after the Right to Education Act, 2009, was amended in 2019 to include a clause that allowed the “appropriate government” to decide on holding back children in Classes 5 and 8. Since then, 18 States and Union Territories (UTs) have already scrapped the no-detention policy.
In a notification issued last week, the Ministry of Education amended the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010, to insert a section on detaining students in Classes 5 and 8.
The rules now state that if a Class 5 or Class 8 student does not fulfil the promotion criteria in the regular examination at the end of the academic year, he/she shall be “given additional instruction and opportunity for re-examination within a period of two months” after the results are declared. If the student still does not fulfil the promotion criteria after the re-exam, he/she can be held back.
In case a student is detained, “the class teacher shall guide the child as well as the parents of the child, if necessary, and provide specialised inputs after identifying the learning gaps at various stages of assessment”.
The rules also add that “the head of the school shall maintain a list of children who are held back and personally monitor the provisions provided for specialised inputs to such children and their progress with respect to the identified learning gaps”.
The exam and re-exam are to be “competency-based examinations to achieve the holistic development of the child” and “not based on memorisation and procedural skills.” The rules specify that no child shall be expelled till the completion of elementary education.
Under Section 16 of the Right to Education Act, 2009, schools were prohibited from detaining students up to Class 8. With the possibility of students dropping out if they were detained, the no-detention policy was meant to ensure children received a minimum level of education at least.
In the years since then, several States called for scrapping the no-detention policy. In 2016, the Central Advisory Board of Education passed a resolution calling for scrapping the policy on the grounds that students were no longer serious about their studies.
The Act was then amended in 2019, allowing “appropriate government… to hold back a child in the fifth class or in the eighth class or in both classes” if the child fails in the re-examination. This left it to the States to decide on scrapping the no-detention policy.
When the Bill for amending the RTE Act to scrap the no-detention policy was moved in Lok Sabha, then HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that “it is a very important legislation and a majority of state governments supported this proposal. It brings accountability in our elementary education.” He had added that “schools have become only schools for mid-day meal, as education and learning are missing.”
Since the amendment, 18 States and UTs have done away with the no-detention policy — Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
According to the Ministry of Education, Haryana and Puducherry are yet to take a final decision.
The remaining States and UTs — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands — continue to implement the no-detention policy.
Asked why the Centre waited to scrap the no-detention policy, a senior official said the National Education Policy was out in 2020 and the Centre decided to wait till the National Curriculum Framework for School Education was also out in 2023, in order “to be able to take a holistic view” on the matter.
Why should you buy our Subscription?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be misled and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package
