The Centre has done away with the “no-detention” policy for Classes 5 and 8 in schools governed by it, enabling them to fail students who do not clear the year-end examinations.

The move will impact around 3,000 schools, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Sainik schools, which function under the Ministry of Defence, PTI reported.

Schools were earlier not allowed to hold back students up to Class 8 under Section 16 of the Right to Education Act, 2009. However, the Act was amended in 2019 allowing the “appropriate government” to decide on holding back students in Classes 5 and 8.

Following this, 18 states and Union territories had done away with the no-detention policy.

In a gazette notification on December 16, the Union Ministry of Education amended the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010, to insert a section on detaining students in Classes 5 and 8.

The amendment said that if a child in Class 5 or Class 8 did not fulfil the promotion criteria in the regular examination at the end of the academic year, they would be “given additional instruction and opportunity for re-examination within a period of two months” after the results were declared.

Students who still do not fulfil the promotion criteria after the re-examination can be held back.

“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 amendment added.

It also said that “the head of the school shall maintain a list of children who are held back and personally monitor the provisions provided for specialised inputs to such children and their progress with respect to the identified learning gaps”.

As per the notification, the examination and the re-examination are meant to be “competency-based examinations to achieve the holistic development of the child” and “not based on memorisation and procedural skills”.

It added: “No child shall be expelled from any school till he completes elementary education.”

An unidentified official told PTI that there was a delay in the notification even though it was approved in 2019 as the new National Education Policy was announced within six months of the amendment.

“By the time amendment was made, NEP [National Education Policy] was announced within few months,” the official said. “The department [school education and literacy] decided to wait till the recommendations of the new National Curriculum Framework were ready to be able to take a holistic view.”

The official added: “The NCF [National Curriculum Framework] was ready in 2023 and subsequently the Ministry of Education took the decision and made some changes in rules of RTE [Right to Education] implementation,”

The National Education Policy 2020 was the first such policy since 1992. The policy proposed changes to the curricular structure for school education, promoted more flexibility in choosing academic streams and emphasised on using the mother tongue as the key medium of instruction in primary school, among other measures.

The policy received criticism from sections of the academic community, including that it encouraged the privatisation of public institutions. It was also criticised for creating numerous “exit” options for students, which opponents said would encourage dropouts.

The policy was also criticised for not being sufficiently inclusive of marginalised communities.

The National Curriculum Framework , 2023, is a set of guidelines for teaching practices, textbooks, and syllabi in Indian schools. It is a key part of the National Education Policy, 2020.

Tamil Nadu to continue with ‘no-detention’ policy

The Tamil Nadu government said on Monday that it would continue to follow the “no-detention” policy, reported PTI.

State School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that the decision to scrap the policy would affect only those schools came under the ambit of the Union government.

The decision was “regrettable” as it would create a big stumbling block for children from poor families in getting educated, said Poyyamozhi.