More than a dozen state wants no-detention policy be revoked

New Delhi: Over a dozen states want the Centre to amend the Right to Education Act and revoke its no-detention policy for students of Classes I to VIII.

Sources said that the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has got a response from 14 states in the matter till now and barring Karnataka, all the others have favoured revoking the no-detention policy.

It is learnt that the states are in favour of revoking the policy as they feel, such a move will encourage the students to learn more.

There has been a view among some states that because of the no-detention policy, students tend to not take their exams seriously, and later it becomes difficult for them in Classes IX and X.

Earlier in a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) several states had discussed the issue after which the HRD Ministry had sought their views.

Among the 13 states which are learnt to be against the no detention policy are Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, UP and Uttarakhand, a source said.

The no-detention policy, a key component of the RTE Act, was enforced on April 1, 2010 with an aim to ensure that every child between the age of 6 and 14 studies in school.

The idea behind the policy was to minimise the number of students who drop out of the schooling system because of failure and are too embarrassed or de-motivated to repeat a year.