Union Cabinet To Scrape No-detention Policy Till Class 8th
The No Detention Policy that came into being in 2010 during the tenure of UPA government has been criticized and become controversial over the recent past. It criticizes students being automatically promoted to higher classes till 8th grade and the negative impact it might have had on the overall academic output of students.
A key component of the Right to Education Act, the no detention policy was introduced to ensure that each and every child between the age of 6 to 14 received school education.
According to a English daily Union Cabinet approved a proposal on Wednesday (2nd August) to scrape the No Detention Policy for students. Thus states will soon be able to conduct examinations for classes 5th and 8th and detain the students if they do not clear the required criteria.
The government will introduce a bill in Parliament to amend the Right to Education Act.
As per existing No Detention Policy, students can not be detained till eighth grade and therefore promoted automatically to the higher grade in schools. But now with this proposal by the Union Cabinet, it makes it possible to detain students that do not clear these examinations. However, students will get another opportunity to clear the exam before being detained.
If and when the new policy comes into play, it will be up to the states to decide whether to detain students in classes 5th and 8th by holding these examinations. Similar exams can also be held in 6th and 7th grade, however, students can not be detained upon non-clearance of the said exams.
Various states have been vocal about the negative effect on the academic performance of students but particularly states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana stand opposed to this proposal to amend the Right of Education Act. This policy is likely to come into force by next year.
