Lok Sabha Question No. 821 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-21
Subject: No Detention Policy
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH, MEKAPATI RAJAMOHAN REDDY, PREM DAS RAI, RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE, K. C. VENUGOPAL, KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY, PARVATAGOUDA CHANDANAGOUDA GADDIGOUDAR, George Baker, DINESH TRIVEDI, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, SUKENDER REDDY GUTHA, JAYADEV GALLA, BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.821 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21st November, 2016

## No Detention Policy

## 821.  SHRI D.K. SURESH:

SHRI M. RAJA MOHAN REDDY:

SHRI PREM DAS RAI:

SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE:

SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL:

SHRI PRABHAKAR REDDY KOTHA:

SHRI P.C. GADDIGOUDAR:

SHRI GEORGE BAKER:

SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI:

DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY:

SHRI JAYADEV GALLA:

SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  true  that  there  has  been  a  significant  decline  in  learning  outcomes  in schools  across  the  country  and  if  so,  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  review  No Detention Policy in this regard;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  received  representation  from  various  stakeholders/State Governments  seeking  to  revoke  the  No  Detention  Policy  in  schools  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government had constituted various Committees to revive the said Policy and  if  so,  the  details  of  each  Committee  including  the  recommendations  and  action  of  the Government thereon;
- (d) whether the Government has sought legal opinion regarding the scrapping of the said Policy and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government is also in receipt of opinions against the discontinuation of the No-Detention Policy including from NCERT and if so, the details thereof ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) & (b) : The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts periodic national surveys of learning achievement of children in classes - III, V, VIII and X

which indicates that there is a need for significant improvement in learning levels. Out of 28 States  and  UTs  that  have  shared  their  views  on  the  'No  Detention'  policy,  23  States  have suggested modification to the No Detention policy.  The summary of the responses received from State Governments and UT Administrations on 'No Detention' policy  is at Annexure-I.

(c): A  Sub-Committee  of  the  Central  Advisory  Board  of  Education  (CABE)  under  the Chairpersonship  of  Smt.  Geeta  Bhukkal,  Education  Minister,  Government  of  Haryana  was constituted  for  assessment  of  implementation  of  Continuous  and  Comprehensive  Evaluation (CCE)  in  the  context  of  'No-Detention'  provision  in  the  Right  of  Children  to  Free  and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. The recommendation of the Committee on the roll out plan of 'No Detention' policy, is as under:

'Given current systemic challenges and process inefficiencies, 'No  detention' provision should be implemented in a phased manner.  For example, to begin with, we could  implement  a  system  of  state  wide  assessment  at  grades  3,5  and  8  -  with  'no detention' up to grade 5, provisional promotion after grade 5 and detention after level 8 (if minimum grade-appropriate competencies are not achieved by the child).  However, scale  up  to  all  classes  should  be  undertaken  only  after  the  critical  infrastructural, teacher  strength  and  teachers'  skill-set  requirements  are  fully  met  (e.g.  by  2020  or 2024).

The system should allow for detaining students lagging behind (e.g., a student who has not attained grade - 3 competency even though reached age-appropriate level of grade 5 or has not attained grade 5 competency even though reached age appropriate level of grade  8).    The  school  needs  to  provide  special  training  to  support  him  or  her  in acquisition  of  grade  appropriate  competencies.    Such  changes  will  help  address concerns that result from a system-wide 'No detention' policy, and will help expedite the country's process towards higher quality education for all.'

Another Sub-Committee of CABE under the Chairpersonship of Shri Vasudev Devnani Minister of Education, Government of Rajasthan was constituted on 26.10.2015 inter-alia, to review  the  feedback  received  from  States  /  UTs  on  the  'No-Detention'  policy.    Apart  from other recommendations of the Sub-Committee, the recommendations on 'No Detention' are as

under:

'There should be an examination at Class 5. It should be left to the States and UT's to decide whether this exam will be at the block, district, or State level. If a child fails then allow the child an opportunity to improve. There should be additional instruction provided  to  children  and  the  child  should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  sit  for  another exam.  If  the  child  is  unable  to  pass  the  exam  in  the  second  chance,  then  detain  the child. At Classes 6 and 7, there should be a school based exam for students. At class 8, there  should  be  an  external  exam.  In  case  the  child  fails  the  child  should  be  given additional  instruction  and  then  appear  for  an  improvement  exam.  If  fails  again,  then detain.'

Another  Sub-Committee  of  the  Central  Advisory  Board  of  Education  (CABE)  was formed for the purpose of improving the state of Government schools in the country under the Chairpersonship of Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, Education Minister of Punjab. The recommendations of the Sub-Committee as regards Learning Outcomes and the 'No Detention' policy are as under:

'Assessment of Student Learning as an Integral Part of Pedagogy -Define comprehensive  benchmarks  of  student  learning  for  each  stage  of  education  -  Make available  exemplar  tools  and  processes  for  assessment  aligned  to  the  benchmarks  Build  teacher  capability  in  the  area  of  assessment  (Assessment  Literacy)  -  Empower teachers to design classroom pedagogy, choose curricular material and select assessment processes - Implement Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in its true spirit

Review 'no detention' policy: It should be noted that the 'no detention' policy adopted in the light of RTE 2009 has proven to be counterproductive.'

A meeting of  CABE was held on 25.10.2016 in New Delhi wherein a decision was taken in the meeting that the Central Government may bring in suitable amendment to the RTE Act, 2009 which will give States the freedom to review the 'No Detention' Policy. It was

decided to  apply 'no  detention' provision up  to  Class    V  and  the  States/UTs  may  decide  to detain  children  for  Class  6,  Class  7  or  Class  8,  however,  the  child  should  be  given  one opportunity to pass the respective class before being promoted to the next class.

(d): Any change in No Detention Policy would require amendment to the RTE Act, 2009. Accordingly, the Ministry has sought comments of Ministry of Law and Justice on the issue.

(e): The NCERT has suggested that for the success of No Detention Policy, there is a need to  prepare  the  ground  to  strengthen  Continuous  and  Comprehensive  Evaluation  (CCE) empowering  teachers through pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes. Learning outcomes are in built in the syllabus and textbooks. NCERT has developed Learning Indicators and Learning Outcomes for Elementary Stage as an exemplar for guiding the States and  UT's.  Defining  learning  outcomes  and  indicators  will  facilitate  monitoring  of  students' against expected benchmarks, organizing additional instruction for children who have learning gaps  and  sharing  progress  of  the  child  with  parents  or  guardians.  It  will  help  identify  the overall  performance  of  a  school  with  regard  to  learning  and  teacher  effectiveness.    The Government  has  decided  to  put  Learning  Outcomes  in  the  Rules  of  the  RTE  Act  2009. Comments  of State Governments which are against the discontinuation of the 'No Detention' policy are also mentioned in the Annexure-I.

*****

ANNEXURE-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a), (b) AND (e) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.821  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  21 ST NOVEMBER,  2016 ASKED BY SHRI D.K. SURESH, SHRI M. RAJA MOHAN REDDY, SHRI PREM DAS RAI, SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE, SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL, SHRI PRABHAKAR REDDY KOTHA, SHRI P.C. GADDIGOUDAR, SHRI GEORGE BAKER, SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI,        DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY, SHRI JAYADEV GALLA, SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN, SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA REGARDING NO DETENTION POLICY

The details of the responses received from States/UTs on 'No Detention' policy are as under:

|   S. No. | Name of the State / UT   | Gist of Comments / Remarks of State Government / UTs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Bihar                    | No Detention Policy to be withdrawn and Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) Policy should be implemented. Performance of students should be assessed from time to time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|        2 | Himachal Pradesh         | 1. Introduction of internal examination at class 3 rd and third party examination at the level of 5 th and 8 th classes. 2. Detention of students at 3rd, 5 th & 8 th classes who fail to acquire class appropriate competences as identified at the respective level.                                                                                                                            |
|        3 | Madhya Pradesh           | Board examinations at classes 5th & 8th to be held because No Detention Policy has adverse impact on the academic performance of students..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|        4 | Mizoram                  | All teachers to be trained in various aspect of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to enable them to practice it effectively. Till the system of CCE stabilizes, the No Detention Policy may be kept in abeyance for 5-7 yrs.                                                                                                                                                          |
|        5 | Odisha                   | Provisions of 'No Detention' may be revisited and the State may be allowed to follow their own evaluation system at the end of every grade with class appropriate assessment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|        6 | Punjab                   | Provisions of 'No Detention' may be amended to reintroduce exam system from 1 st - 8 th classes and start Board examination in classes 5 th & 8 th . A Resolution to this effect has been passed in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.                                                                                                                                                                      |
|        7 | Rajasthan                | 'No Detention Policy' and 'Age appropriate Admission Policy' to be withdrawn due to the adverse impact in the quality of education on account of decline in the commitment levels of students as well as teachers towards education. Tests/examination and detention provide students a fair stage to perform, besides being a remedy for correcting the deficiency in the knowledge of students. |
|        8 | Sikkim                   | Roll out plan of 'No detention' in phased manner and assessment at classes 5th & 8th as regular attendance is not ensured by the family and thus 'No Detention' has further aggravated the motivation of students and teachers.                                                                                                                                                                   |

| S. No.   | Name of the State / UT   | Gist of Comments / Remarks of State Government / UTs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|----------|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 9.       | Tripura                  | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be reviewed as this has led to a state of inattention to the teaching-learning process on the part of the children and has adverse impact on the regular attendance of students and teachers in schools.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| 10.      | Uttar Pradesh            | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be revoked as it has resulted in lack of competition and has reduced the learning outcome of students.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| 11.      | Uttarakhand              | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be withdrawn as this has brought down the standard of education. Half-yearly and annual examinations should be conducted in order to improve the quality of education of students and also their competitive spirits. This would also increase the responsibility of teachers.                                                                                                                                                                 |
| .12.     | Puducherry               | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be reviewed as it has led to deterioration in quality of elementary education and created negative impact on the students' as well as parents' attitude and mentality. Therefore, 'No Detention Policy' needs to be restricted up to class V.                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| 13.      | Karnataka                | 'No Detention Policy' should continue in its present form as it is important to sustain students' interest in education and provide minimum 8 years of school education. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) should be improved and monitored, year-end evaluation for a few classes should be conducted and students with low scores should be helped in improving their learning through special teaching.                                                        |
| 14.      | Delhi                    | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be amended as this has led to students being promoted to next class without achieving the desired learning level of a class and being able to comprehend and follow the subject taught. It further results in unreasonable and undisciplined behaviour of students or their dropping out of school. 'No Detention Policy' may be restricted up to Junior Primary class, i.e. class 3.                                                          |
| 15.      | Kerala                   | 'No Detention Policy' to be withdrawn as there is no harm in allowing a student one more year to recoup rather than allowing the student to pass to the next higher stage in an unbaked condition. The teachers will also be able to assess and correct themselves. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) process to be strengthened. Periodical, terminal and year-end examination will be necessary for an objective analysis of the learning level of the student. |

|   S. No. | Name of the State / UT   | Gist of Comments / Remarks of State Government / UTs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|----------|--------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       16 | Andhra Pradesh           | 'No Detention Policy' should continue as otherwise the dropout rate would increase and it would be difficult to fulfil the objective of universalization of elementary education. Detention of students would demotivate them and lead to rote learning and undue fear of exams on the students and encourage malpractice and suppresses creative thinking, analytical ability, exploration and experimentation skills of the students. Annual examinations should be conducted to assess learning levels for class III, V and VIII. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) should be strengthened. Quality of teaching should be improved. |
|       17 | Gujarat                  | 'No Detention Policy' to be reviewed and suitably modified.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|       18 | Nagaland                 | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be reviewed as it has adversely affected both the students and teachers. The policy has made the students lazy and non-serious in their studies and the teachers too casual in their approach to teaching. The pass percentage and the grades/marks obtained by students in class IX and HSLC Examination have declined due to 'No Detention Policy'.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|       19 | West Bengal              | 'No Detention Policy' to be withdrawn as the learning outcomes and school environment has suffered due to the policy. Adequate safeguards may be put in place so that drop outs do not increase.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|       20 | Haryana                  | 'No Detention Policy' needs to be withdrawn as it has resulted in deterioration in the quality of education due to decreased commitment levels of stakeholders. The policy has resulted in lackadaisical attitude on part of both students and teachers. For the policy to succeed, optimum teacher-pupil ratio should be optimum, along with compulsory attendance and effective implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). Tests/examinations provide students with competitive spirit besides motivating them to study.                                                                                                   |
|       21 | Telangana                | 'No Detention Policy' should continue to enable a child to learn better without fear of failure, detention and stigma. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) should be strengthened to evaluate the learning standards of the child regularly and which focuses not on rote learning but encourages creative and critical thinking.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|       22 | Maharashtra              | 'No Detention Policy' should continue with some changes as the policy has reduced school dropout rates and helps in building self esteem. Schools to test children at least thrice every year. States should be given freedom to decide whichever policy to follow.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |

|   S. No. | Name of the State / UT   | Gist of Comments / Remarks of State Government / UTs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|----------|--------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       23 | Goa                      | 'No Detention Policy' should continue in the interest of the elementary educvvation of all children. Measures should be taken for effective implemesntatin of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.                                                                                    |
|       24 | Jammu & Kashmir*         | Implementation of CCE should be reviewed with particular focus on regular assessment, evaluation and remedial teaching; detention from class 5th to 8th in a phased manner should be introduced; detention at class 9th should be done away with and external evaluation should be done in all classes from 5th onwards. |
|       25 | Chhattisgarh             | Detention should be at the level of class 8 and more than one opportunity should be given to pass class 8 exam. Also, the aggregate of points earned in class V should be carried forward to the next class.                                                                                                             |
|       26 | Arunachal Pradesh        | 'No Detention' should be reviewed and abolished.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|       27 | Daman& Diu               | Negative effects of 'No Detention' policy have been highlighted.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|       28 | Chandigarh               | No Detention Policy may be continued up to Class-IV. CCE may be continued. Centralized Annual Exam may be introduced in Class VII.                                                                                                                                                                                       |

The remaining States/UTs are yet to furnish their comments.

* RTE Act 2009 is not applicable in the State of Jammu&Kashmir