Numerous esteemed institutions in the Delhi-NCR region are reportedly retaining students in Classes 6 and 7, contravening the provisions of the Right to Education Act of 2009, according to education advocates and parents.
In December 2024, the Department of School Education and Literacy, part of the Ministry of Education, issued regulations concerning ‘Examination and Holding Back in Certain Cases’ following amendments to the Right to Education (RTE) Act in 2019.
Advocate and education activist Ashok Aggarwal informed PTI that “the revised regulations permit schools to hold back students only in Classes 5 and 8, and only after providing them with an additional chance for re-examination within two months of the results being announced.”
“Prior to the amendment, there was a no-detention policy up to Class 8. The government modified the Act to allow for retention in 5th and 8th grades. Nevertheless, many private institutions are imposing their own rules on parents, disregarding the Act,” he added.
Several parents have reported that schools are pressuring them to either obtain a school leaving certificate or allow their child to repeat the grade in 6th or 7th.
A parent from Gurgaon, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, “My son is in Class 6, and we have been informed that if he does not pass the re-exam scheduled for May, he will not advance to the next grade. However, regulations stipulate that students cannot be held back in grades other than 5 and 8. My son struggled academically this year due to health issues.”
Education expert Prof. Anita Rampal, formerly associated with the Faculty of Education at Delhi University, expressed astonishment at the blatant violation of the Act by public schools.
“If schools are retaining children in Classes 6 and 7, they are undermining the RTE Act. I urge parents to lodge complaints with the nearest district or session courts,” Prof. Rampal remarked.
“Schools must recognize that the Act confers specific constitutional rights upon children,” she emphasized.
Schools need to recognize that the Act grants specific constitutional rights to children, she emphasized.
Ashok Ganguly, the former chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), stated that neither the Right to Education Act nor the National Education Policy and the National Curriculum Framework permit any school to retain a student in Classes 6 and 7.
Ganguly also indicated that the practice of detaining students in Classes 5 and 8 is questionable at this point, given the lack of established procedures from the relevant state governments and education boards.
“Regarding detention in Classes 5 and 8, it was the responsibility of the respective states or boards to provide the necessary guidelines, and to my knowledge, no state has fulfilled this obligation,” Ganguly remarked.
According to Section 16A of the RTE Act, regular examinations must be conducted in Classes 5 and 8 at the conclusion of each academic year. “If a child does not meet the promotion criteria, they must be given an additional chance for re-examination within two months following the announcement of results.”
The regulations further state that if a child who takes the re-examination fails to meet the promotion criteria, they will be retained in Class 5 or 8, depending on the situation.
“The rule specifies that no child shall be expelled from any school until they have completed their elementary education,” it states.
A document published on the website of the Department of School Education and Literacy states that requiring a child to repeat a grade can be demotivating.
“Repeating a grade does not provide the child with any additional resources to manage the same curriculum requirements for another year. Furthermore, parents and peers often perceive these children as ‘destined for failure,’ which reinforces the school’s negative assessment of the child as a ‘failure,'” the document notes.
The document further explains that the ‘no detention’ clause in the Right to Education (RTE) Act does not mean that assessment procedures for evaluating children’s learning should be neglected. Instead, the RTE Act mandates the implementation of a continuous and comprehensive evaluation system that is non-threatening, alleviates the child’s fear and trauma associated with failure, and allows teachers to focus on each child’s learning and performance.
Since the amendment to the Right to Education Act in 2019, at least 18 states and Union Territories, including Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Jammu and Kashmir, have eliminated the ‘no-detention policy’ for two specific grades.
When questioned about the delay in issuing a notification following the amendment’s approval in 2019, officials from the Ministry of Education clarified that the new National Education Policy was introduced within six months of the amendment.
