If a student is held, the class teacher will guide both the child and the parent, if needed, as well as provide specialised inputs, after identifying learning gaps in various stages of assessment.
The Centre has abolished the policy of no-detention in all schools under its control, including Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) and Jawahar Nvodaya Vidyalayas (JNV). This allows students from Classes 5 and 8, to be kept back during the current academic session.
Around 3,000 Central Schools will be affected by the decision, including Sainik Schools that function under the Ministry of Defence and Eklavya Model Residential Schools under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
This comes five years after the Right to Education Act of 2009 was amended in 2019. The amendment included a clause allowing the "appropriate governments" to decide whether to hold back children in Class 5 and 8. In the five years since, 18 states and union territories (UTs), have abolished this policy.
In a notice issued last week, Ministry of Education added a section to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules of 2010, which deals with the detention of students in classes 5 and 8.
According to the new rules, if the student in Class 5 or 8 does not meet the promotion criteria at the regular examination held at the end academic year, they will be given "additional instruction and the opportunity for retesting within two months" following the declaration of results. The student can be held back if he/she still fails to meet the promotion criteria following the re-examination.
If a student is held, the class teacher will guide both the child and the parent, if needed, as well as provide specialised inputs, after identifying learning gaps in various stages of assessment.
The rules add that the "head of the school" must keep a record of all children who have learning gaps and monitor their progress in relation to those identified gaps.
The examination and re-examination are "competency-based exams to achieve the holistic growth of the child", and "not based upon memorisation or procedural skills". The rules stipulate that no child will be expelled until the completion of elementary school.
Section 16 of Right to Education Act 2009 prohibits schools from detaining children up to class 8. The no-detention rule was implemented to prevent students from dropping out of school if they are detained.
Since then, several states have called for the scrapping of the policy. In 2016, the Central Advisory Board of Education adopted a resolution that called for the scrapping of the policy, citing the fact that students no longer took their studies seriously.
In 2019, the Act was amended to allow "appropriate governments...to hold back an child in fifth class, eighth class, or both classes" if they fail the re-examination. The decision to scrap the policy of no-detention was left to the states.
Then HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "it's a very important law and the majority of state governments support this proposal." When the Bill to amend the RTE Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha he had stated that it is "a very important legislation" and the majority of the state governments have supported the proposal. This brings accountability to our elementary education. He added that, "Schools are only used for the mid-day lunch and education is missing."
Since the amendment 18 states and UTs no longer have a policy of no-detention: Assam (Bihar), Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Jharkhand Punjab, Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttarakhand West Bengal Delhi Dadra Nagar Haveli Daman Diu, Daman and Diu, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman Diu, Daman and Diu, Daman and Diu, Daman and Di
According to the Ministry of Education Haryana and Puducherry have yet to make a final decision.
The rest of the States and UTs - Andhra Pradesh (including Arunachal Pradesh), Goa, Chhattisgarh (including Kerala), Karnataka (including Kerala), Maharashtra, Manipur and Mizoram), Odisha, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh - continue to follow this policy.
A senior official was asked why the Centre had waited so long to end the policy of no-detention. He said that the National Education Policy came out in 2020, and the Centre chose to wait until the National Curriculum Framework for School Education also came out in 2023 to "take a holistic approach" to the issue.
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