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The failed students will be able to take the annual exams again within two months. However, if they fail again, they will have to repeat the year, according to officials.
The Ministry of Education has also said that no child will be expelled from any school till completion of elementary education (Representative/File Photo)
The Centre has scrapped the ‘no-detention policy’ for classes 5 and 8. This means that students who are unable to clear the year-end exams will be marked as failing and have to retake the exams. The failed students will be able to take the annual exams again within two months. However, if they fail again, they will not be promoted and will have to repeat the year, according to officials.
However, the Ministry of Education has said that no child will be expelled from any school till completion of elementary education. The decision to amend the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010 was taken by the Centre to improve the learning outcome among children, Secretary, Sanjay Kumar said.
“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,” the notification said.
The new rule is applicable to more than 3,000 schools run by the central government including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navaodyala Vidyalayas, and Sainik Schools, the Ministry of Education has informed.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 introduced the ‘no detention policy’ which meant that even if students failed the annual class 5 or class 8 exams, they were not allowed to be detained in the same class. This step was so that students would not be disheartened and would be encouraged to continue school.
The Act was amended in 2019 and the states were given the option of deciding if they wanted to continue with the policy. “Since school education is a state subject, states can make their decision in this regard. Already 16 states and 2 UTs including Delhi have done away with the no-detention policy for these two classes,” the notification stated.
“Haryana and Puducherry have not made any decision yet while remaining states and UTs have decided to continue with the policy,” a senior official told PTI.
After the NEP 2020 was announced, it was decided that the new policy would be notified after the completion of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF). After the NCF was finalised in 2023, the education ministry revised the rules for implementing the RTE provisions, reported Times of India.
