Context:

In December 2024, the Union government amended the Rules of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, allowing schools, including Central government-run schools, to detain students in Classes 5 and 8 if they fail year-end examinations.

Students will have a second chance to pass through a re-examination after two months of additional teaching. This move aligns with a 2019 amendment that rolled back the RTE Act’s no-detention policy, with 18 States and UTs already reinstating the option to detain students.

What’s in today’s article?

• Rationale behind the no-detention policy
• Why has no-detention policy been rolled back?
• Way forward

Rationale behind the no-detention policy

• Original No-Detention Policy under RTE Act (2009)
  • The RTE Act, 2009, included Section 16, which prohibited detention or expulsion of students from Classes 1 to 8.
  • The aim was to create a stress-free learning environment and shift away from high-pressure, single-exam assessments.
• Challenges in Implementation
  • Misinterpretation of No-Detention Policy: Many schools misapplied the policy, leading to the absence of testing and reduced accountability for teaching outcomes.
  • Automatic Promotions: Government schools often promoted students automatically without assessing whether they acquired grade-specific skills.
  • Lack of Focus on Outcomes: Monitoring systems emphasized inputs rather than learning outcomes.
• Failure of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
  • Implementation Issues: Efforts to introduce CCE with support from UNICEF were hindered by inadequate resources, teacher training, and lack of commitment.
  • Poor Execution: Teachers often filled NCERT’s CCE forms en masse without assessing individual students’ skills.
  • Abandonment of CCE: Many boards reverted to traditional year-end examinations, abandoning the CCE model of multiple assessments.
• Key Observation
  • Experts highlighted that the poor implementation of the no-detention policy and CCE led to a decline in teaching standards and learning outcomes.

Why has no-detention policy been rolled back?

• Alarming Learning Gaps in Indian Schools
  • Surveys reveal significant deficits in basic literacy and numeracy skills among Indian students, highlighting a worsening trend over recent years.
• Findings from the ASER Report
  • Class 5 Literacy and Arithmetic Decline:
    • In 2022, only 42.8% of Class 5 students could read a Class 2-level text, down from 50.5% in 2018.
    • Only 25.6% could solve basic arithmetic problems, a drop from 27.9% in 2018.
  • Youth Foundational Skill Gaps (ASER 2023):
    • A quarter of 14- to 18-year-olds cannot fluently read a Class 2-level text in their regional language.
    • Over half struggle with division problems taught in Classes 3 and 4.
• High Failure Rates in Board Examinations (2023)
• Classes 10 and 12 Results: Over 65 lakh students failed across 59 boards.
• Failure rates: 12% in national boards, 18% in State boards.
• Expert Opinions on Learning Gaps
  • Impact of Automatic Promotions
    • Promoting all students without accountability in lower classes harms them in later life. COVID-19 disruptions worsened the learning gap.
  • Evidence-Based Decision Making
    • Experts supported the rollback of the no-detention policy as a response to the evident learning crisis.
• Need for Better Mechanisms
  • Analysts, however, called for improved systems to assess children’s learning outcomes and hold teachers accountable, rather than regressing to detention practices.

Way Forward

• Call for Timely Remedial Action
  • Regular assessments must be conducted at the school level for every class, rather than relying on board-level evaluations.
  • Teachers are the best judges of a child’s learning and should be trusted and equipped for this responsibility.
• Focus on Targeted Support and Accountability
  • Class teachers are required to identify learning gaps and provide specialised inputs at various stages.
  • School Heads are mandated to personally monitor the progress of children who are held back, introducing more accountability.
• Shifting Accountability from Students to Teachers
  • Detaining students punishes them for not performing well, instead of addressing the root cause.
  • Teachers must be held accountable for inclusive teaching and their focus on all students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Recommendations for Teacher Accountability
  • Introduce rigorous teacher appraisals to ensure inclusivity and fairness in teaching.
  • Implement consequences for teachers failing to meet standards, along with incentives to encourage better performance.