DIMAPUR — The
government of India has amended the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education (RTE) Rules, 2010, to reintroduce a clause allowing children to be
held back in Class 5 and Class 8 under specific circumstances.
The new rules came into effect on December 16, following
their publication in the Gazette of India by the Ministry of Education.
According to a report published by The Hindu, while the RTE
had been amended to scrap the no-detention policy as early as 2019, the Rules
have been notified only now.
“Since the National Education Policy [NEP] was announced in
2020, we waited for the National Curriculum Framework document, which was
published in 2023, before coming out with the Rules,” the report stated,
quoting a senior ministry official.
As per the amendments, detailed in the gazette notification,
students in Classes 5 and 8 will now be required to take annual examinations at
the end of every academic year, and those failing to meet the promotion
criteria will be given additional instruction and allowed to take a
re-examination within two months of the result announcement.
However, if a student fails the re-examination, they may be
held back in their current grade, with specialised learning inputs to address
gaps identified during assessments.
The rules also mandate that class teachers guide not only
the students held back but also their parents, providing inputs to address
learning gaps and ensure a holistic educational approach.
Both examinations and re-examinations will focus on
competency-based evaluation rather than rote memorisation and procedural
skills.
Further, the amendment stated that “no child shall be expelled
from any school till he completes elementary education.”
