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The introduction of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Rules, 2024, is intended to help students struggling academically to gain more focus and better their overall results
The notification will be applicable to over 3,000 schools run by the Centre, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Sainik Schools. (Image for representation: PTI)
For the first time, the central government has allowed states to scrap the “no-detention policy” enabling them to detain school students in Classes V and VIII if they fail their year-end examination. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Rules, 2024, was introduced in a gazette notification on Monday.
This is intended to help students struggling academically to gain more focus and better their overall results, but what does abolishing the no-detention policy mean for students?
Let’s take a look:
WHAT DOES THE NOTIFICATION SAY?
According to the gazette notification, if students fail to fulfil the promotion criteria after regular examination is conducted, they shall receive additional instruction and opportunity for a re-examination in two months after results are declared.
“If the child appearing in the re-examination fails to fulfil the promotion criteria again, he/she shall be held back in fifth class or eighth class, as the case may be,” it stated.
It added: “During the holding back of the child, 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.”
However, the notification issued by the department of school education and literacy under the ministry of education (MoE) clarified that no student will be expelled from a school till they complete their elementary education. It further stated that the examination and re-examination will be based on competency, so as to achieve holistic development without depending on memorisation and procedural skills.
“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,” it stated.
WHO WILL IT AFFECT?
The notification will be applicable to more than 3,000 schools run by the central government, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Sainik Schools.
Since education is a concurrent subject, states are free to take a decision on abolishing the policy or continuing with it. A total of 16 states and two union territories, including NCT of Delhi; Daman and Diu; and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, have already done away with the no-detention policy for Classes V and VIII.
States that have scrapped the policy include Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
States/UTs including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Lakshadweep continue to follow the no-detention policy from Classes I to VIII.
According to ministry officials, Haryana and Puducherry have not yet decided.
The Right to Education Act, 2009 initially mandated that a student cannot be detained until Class VIII, regardless of their academic performance. The policy came into effect in April 2010 but, in 2019, the Act was amended allowing schools to detain students in Classes V and VIII if they failed their year-end exams twice, leaving the decision up to the individual states.
Asked about the delay in the notification since the amendment was approved in 2019, officials said the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was announced within six months of the amendment. Hence, the department decided to wait till the recommendations of the new National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) were ready to be able to take a holistic view.
The NCF was released in 2023 and, subsequently, the education ministry decided to make changes in the implementation of the RTE Act.
HOW WILL THIS BENEFIT STUDENTS?
Officials said the decision to scrap the no-education policy was made after a slew of consultations and collecting feedback from stakeholders as well as academics. A majority was in favour of bringing about a reform that allows students struggling academically to get a chance to improve and pass the examination, instead of just straight away being promoted to the next class without learning the basics of that particular stage, they said.
Backing the government’s decision, Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu School, said, “I was part of the committee of the Delhi government that decided to do away with the policy and allow students to be detained in these classes. This amendment is greatly appreciated. Detention should not be seen as a reflection of a child’s incapability. Instead, it should be viewed as an opportunity for constructive assessment and feedback, empowering the child to achieve their full potential in alignment with their unique capabilities.”
The Delhi government abolished the no-detention policy from 2023-24. Awadhesh Kumar Jha, principal of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Rohini’s Sector-8, said the decision was much-awaited and commendable since Classes V and VIII are thresholds to senior classes, and there are always some students who are lagging behind. Jha said simply clearing them for the next level without helping them is not the right way and, hence, doing away with such a policy that does not do any real good is important.
“In Class V, on an average, there are around 5 to 10 percent of students not performing well enough and need guidance and more assistance. As they move up to Class VIII, the percentage of such students becomes higher to around 15 to 20 percent. We need to ensure that these students are well-guided and can make it through, all the way up to higher education where they are at least ready to face competitive examinations. This also brings about seriousness among parents to make their children more aware of the need to do better. This amendment shall bring about that increased awareness,” Jha said.
