Right to Education Act will have to be amended to scrap the ‘no detention’ policy: HRD ministry

NEW DELHI: The human resource development ministry has sought to know from the law ministry if the policy of promoting all school students till Class VIII each academic year can be reversed without amending the Right to Education Act passed during the UPA government’s tenure.

Initial legal opinion had suggested that the Right to Education Act will have to be amended to scrap what is called the ‘no detention’ policy. Definitive legal opinion on the issue has now been sought to ascertain if it is possible to do away with the policy without amending the Act.

Legislative process for amending RTE can be protracted, especially since the NDA government is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha.

The issue figured at a review of the HRD ministry done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March. The review urged the school education department to ‘expedite decision’ on the ‘no detention’ clause in the Right to Education Act by September.




The RTE Act promises free and compulsory education to all children between 6 and 14 and mandates that no student should be detained in any class till Class VIII.

The provision had attracted criticism with several states and schools complaining that it compromised on academic rigour and learning levels and quality at schools. Most recently the TSR Subramanian committee for formulation of the National Policy on Education has also suggested that ‘no detention’ policy should be discontinued after Class V. It had recommended restoration of detention provision,remedial coaching and two extra chances to each student such to move to a higher class.

A sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education also studied the issue closely and recommended a provisional detention clause at Classes V and VIII. In 2013, a parliamentary panel had also asked the ministry to ‘rethink’ on its “policy of automatic promotion up to Class VIII”.

Most states favour doing away with ‘no detention’. However, Goa, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra have opposed the scrapping of the policy, pointing out that dropout rates decreased very significantly after mass promotions were allowed.

The ministry has already asked states to continue holding annual exams even if there is no detention of students. This will at least enable in assessing student learning levels, which can accordingly be addressed through remedial classes.