No child shall be expelled from school till completion of elementary education: MoE on scrapping ‘no detention policy’

No detention policy: Ministry of Education on Monday decided to scrap 'no detention policy' for classes 5 and 8 students. This will be applicable on those students who fail to clear year-end exams, PTI reported citing officials. The centre further announced that no child shall be expelled from any school till completion of elementary education.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Rules, 2010 has undergone official amendment. According to new rules, central government has granted state governments the power to conduct regular examinations for Class 5 and 8 students but from now onwards students will be detained if they fail to qualify the annual examinations.

The amendment is contrary to the "no-detention" policy, which had been a cornerstone of India's educational framework. The RTE act that put no-detention into effect was enacted in 2009.

Modifications in RTE Rules

Let's find out what are the important modifications that have been brought about in the RTE Rules. Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) was last amended in 2019.

The recent changes in RTE act come five year later, under which state governments have the authority to conduct annual examinations for Classes 5 and 8 students at the end of each academic year.

In case a student does not qualify these examinations, additional instructional support will be provided, and a second chance will be offered to appear for a re-examination after two months. The student's promotion to the next class depends upon the standardised promotion criteria. If a student fails to meet the criteria despite second chance, then the child will be detained.

Some states support the change, including Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Delhi. While others expressed resentment to the change. Kerala argued that it could increase the pressure on young learners.