HRD ready with RTE Act amendment bill to change no detention policy

Students of Classes V and VIII will get one additional chance to clear their annual exams

Students of Class V and VIII will get just one additional chance to clear their annual examination which is to be conducted for the two classes at the elementary schools in many of the States.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has proposed amendments to the Right to Education (RTE) Act to tweak the ‘no detention’ policy and enable States re-introduce the annual examinations for the students of Classes V and VIII.

"We will soon enable states to reintroduce annual examinations for students of classes V and VIII with amendment to the RTE Act. A student failing to clear his or her first (annual) examination in March will be given an additional chance in June," HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.

He was speaking to media on the sidelines of a national conference organised under the aegis of the NCERT to deliberate on the innovations in school education.

Inaugurating the conference, the HRD Minister unveiled the subject-wise minimum learning outcomes laid down by the NCERT for each of the elementary classes.

Elementary school students are currently given automatic promotion up to class IX under the “no detention policy” under the RTE Act.

Several studies including those conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), however, observed a consistent decline in the learning outcome of the elementary school children, putting the blame on the ‘no detention’ policy.

This prompted majority of the State governments including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Punjab to demand scrapping of the ‘no-detention’ policy followed in elementary schools.

“As many as 25 states want a change in the no detention policy,” HRD Minister said.
The amendment bill, drafted by the Ministry in consultation with the Union Law Ministry to tweak the no detention policy, is pending for the approval of the Union Cabinet. Once it gets approval of the Cabinet, the Ministry will have to introduce the amendment bill in Parliament for its nod.