Detention policy back in Delhi schools this year

New Delhi

Students of classes 5 and 8 will now need to secure the minimum required marks to get promoted under the detention policy which will be enforced in all Delhi schools with the beginning of the 2023-24 academic session on Monday.

The Delhi government notified the return of the policy last year after the Parliament in January 2019 did away with the no-detention policy through an amendment to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

The policy mandates students of classes 5 and 8 to score at least 33% marks in each subject to get promoted to the next class. They will also be required need to meet the minimum attendance criteria of 75% to appear for the annual examinations, according to the guidelines issued by the Directorate of Education in October last year. The lack of minimum attendance will only be excused in exceptional circumstances as outlined in the examination and promotion rules.

To be sure, the detention policy will not be applicable for students of other classes.

While states were given the option of deciding if they wanted to continue with the no-detention policy, the Delhi government opted to apply the detention policy, and the revised rules were notified in October 2022 for enforcement from the 2023-24 academic session.

Awadhesh Kumar Jha, principal of Sarvodaya Co-ed Vidyalaya, Rohini, Sector 8, said that parents have already been informed about the change in policy ahead of resumption of classes.

Jha said that the provision of detention and focus on attendance will ensure that students don’t have a lax approach to learning. “We plan to hold an orientation for every student in classes 5 and 8 to make them understand that classes need to be taken seriously and they will not be promoted if they do not perform well. Earlier, students would take leave even during examinations. The policy will deter such instances and challenge students to perform well,” said Jha.

Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu Public School in Rohini, said that the new examination and promotion policies will ensure that students move to the next class after gaining proficiency in the previous classes first.

“A need for keeping the detention policy was felt since the transition period from class 8 to 9 is significant and we were of the view that the children should be made to sit for retests if they don’t do well,” said Arora, who was the only representative from private schools in the committee that deliberated on the new policy.

According to the DoE guidelines, students who fail to secure 33% in annual examinations will be eligible for re-examination. If students fail to secure at least 25% in subjects that they have taken the re-examination for, or 33 marks in the specific subject, students will be placed in the essential repeat (ER) category, the guidelines state.

The assessment of children’s learning in classes 5 and 8 will include midterms and annual examinations as well as extracurricular activities. These include project-based activities, portfolio, child’s participation in the classroom, participation in activities such as theatre, dance, music, sports, and attendance, among others, according to the guidelines.

Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka, said that the new promotion policy will ensure that students don’t struggle in higher classes. “We are also holding orientations and making parents aware that their child can be detained in classes 5 and 8 if they don’t do well after improvement tests or re-tests. We don’t want to detain students but at the same time, we have seen students struggling in class 9 and failing. At least in class 8, they will be more serious with the detention provision in place,” said Acharya.

Aprajita Gautam, president, Delhi Parents Association, said that effective implementation of the policy was needed. “Students should get another chance to sit for re-examination, as per rules. They should be not be asked to repeat the class without being given another attempt. We will have to see how the policy is implemented going ahead since many times there are no checks to see how policies are being implemented in schools,” said Gautam.