NEW DELHI: Very soon students failing in class VI will no longer be given the grace of passing the class, as the Law Ministry has given the green signal to a proposal of the Human Resource Development Ministry’s proposal to restrict the no-detention policy to class V, from the present upper limit of class VIII.
The existing provision says the no-detention or no-fail policy is applicable till the completion of elementary education (class VIII). But as the proposal of the of bringing down the class bracket was recommended by a sub-committee under the HRD Ministry, section 16 of the Right to Education Act, 2009 needed to be amended the nod from Law ministry was necessary.
In its December 8 note, the Department of Legal Affairs in the Law Ministry said, "Appropriate governments (states) may, if it deem necessary, make rules for detaining a child in class 6, 7 or 8 provided that an additional chance may be given" (to students to reappear in exams).
The note of the ministry said further that "there seems to be no objection" to amend the law to state that "no child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of Class V".
The note pointed out that the HRD Ministry reached the conclusion to restrict the no-detention policy to class V from class VIII after examining "various adverse consequences" of the present provision.
"Children are becoming indisciplined as they do not have fear of failing and thus affecting the quality of education" recommended the sub-committee.
Several states have requested to review the no-detention policy during the meetings of Sub-committee of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), which was set up to assess the implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in the context of no detention provision of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.