‘No-detention’ till Class 8: HRD all set to scrap policy

The Narendra Modi government is soon likely to reverse the controversial “no-detention” policy till Class 8, that was initiated by the earlier UPA-2 government, after an overwhelming number of state governments sought its scrapping. Sources in the HRD ministry said 13 states had said the policy should be scrapped, with only Karnataka still endorsing it.

The Class 10 board exams, which have been made provisional by some school boards and states, as well as by the CBSE board, are also likely to be brought back if the no-detention policy is scrapped.

Thirteen states from across the political spectrum — Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Puducherry and Delhi — have backed the Modi government proposal to scrap the no-detention policy. The only state that wants it to continue is Karnataka.

A meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education, the highest advisory body on education in the country, on August 19 ended without any decision taken on the issue of the no-detention policy as HRD minister Smriti Irani had sought the written views of state governments on the controversial issue. It is understood that after seeking the responses from the remaining states, a final decision on scrapping the policy will be taken by the government. The decision will only be taken once the states’ written views are received, a source said.

The no-detention policy till Class 9 and provisional Class 10 board examinations were introduced by the UPA-2 government as part of its educational reforms. A CABE subcommittee under then Haryana education minister Geeta Bhukkal, that examined the no-detention policy, suggested that not having an examination system had led to a sharp fall in the learning outcomes of students.