Detention: A Failure of the Child or the System? | Adama Srinivas Reddy

Abstract

The essay explores the no-detention policy and its implications in the Indian education system, arguing that poor academic performance stems from systemic flaws rather than individual student failure. Highlighting historical, constitutional, and policy dimensions, it emphasizes the importance of quality teacher training, individualized learning approaches, and addressing systemic shortcomings to ensure effective education. The essay critiques recent policy changes and calls for a shift in focus from punitive measures to holistic educational reform.

Thomas Alva Edison’s teachers called him a slow learner, Albert Einstein was considered a nuisance by his teachers, and RK Laxman failed in mathematics during his school exams. These examples highlight that poor academic performance in school does not preclude great achievements in life. Rabindranath Tagore lacked formal education, while Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Michael Faraday dropped out of school due to poverty.

Such stories illustrate that academic struggles often stem from systemic failures rather than individual inadequacies. Policies like the no-detention clause in India’s Right to Education (RTE) Act aimed to prevent these failures from hindering students’ progress. However, debates around its effectiveness have reignited with recent policy changes, raising critical questions: Are students failing due to their own limitations, or is the system failing them? This essay examines the detention policy’s evolution, its implementation challenges, and the systemic flaws that need addressing to ensure meaningful educational outcomes.

Historical Context and Policy Evolution

The objective of Article 45 of the Directive Principles of the Constitution of India was to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 up to the elementary level, that is, up to the 8th standard, within ten years of the Constitution’s enactment. However, this goal remained unachieved by 1960, leading to the 86th Constitutional Amendment in 2002 and the inclusion of Article 21(A), which made the right to education a part of the right to life. Consequently, the Right to Education (RTE) Act was framed and implemented in 2010.

To ensure uninterrupted education for all children up to the 8th grade, Section 16 of the RTE Act prohibits board examinations and the detention of children for failing exams up to this level. This provision emphasizes continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) rather than punitive measures. Teachers are required to assess students continuously and implement corrective measures without overburdening them. This led to the introduction of the CCE method.

Challenges in Implementation

In 2012, the CABE Committee, chaired by then Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, was appointed to review the implementation of CCE and the no-detention policy. The committee recommended reforms in teacher education, the preparation of teachers to implement CCE effectively, and remedial classes for students failing in the 5th and 8th-grade annual exams. Despite these efforts, subsequent surveys like the ASER and the 2017 National Achievement Survey revealed that many children lacked grade-level skills. Critics argued that the no-detention policy and CCE had exacerbated this issue by promoting unprepared students to higher grades, thereby reducing teacher accountability. This led to the 2019 amendment of the RTE Act, granting states the authority to implement detention policies based on annual examination results for the 5th and 8th grades. While some states have adopted this policy, others have not.

Policy Revisions and Their Implications

Recently,the union government has abolished the no-detention policy for classes 5 and 8 in Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas.The policy change was announced in a gazette notification titled “Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education(Amendment) Rules,2024 , reigniting the debate. The key issue remains: Why are children failing to acquire fundamental skills? Addressing this requires identifying systemic flaws rather than focusing solely on detention policies.

The current education system often adopts a factory model, treating all children uniformly despite their individual differences in physical, cognitive, and emotional development. This standardized approach is inherently flawed. Effective education requires customized teaching methods that account for these individual differences. Achieving even approximate equality in outcomes necessitates diverse teaching strategies and varying timelines.

For this, the quality of teacher training is crucial. However, the privatization of teacher education over the past three decades has led to a proliferation of profit-driven institutions that prioritize revenue over quality. As noted in the draft National Education Policy 2020, such institutions have become "certificate shops." Teachers emerging from these institutions are ill-equipped to implement CCE effectively. Furthermore, existing teachers have not been adequately trained in CCE principles, and teacher training institutions remain weak. Neither the recommendations of the Geeta Bhukkal Committee nor the Justice Verma Committee on teacher education have been implemented effectively.

Additionally, colonial legacies persist in teachers’ working conditions. While the National Curriculum Framework 2005 introduced significant changes to the school curriculum, the perception that longer teaching hours result in better learning persists. Physical infrastructure and teaching resources remain inadequate, and teachers lack the autonomy to employ suitable teaching methods. Outdated governance policies exacerbate these issues, with bureaucrats often shaping education policies based on outdated philosophies that disregard modern pedagogical principles. Consequently, exams, results, and detention policies continue to dominate the discourse.

As former NCERT Director Prof. Krishna Kumar aptly stated, “Children do not fail; they are failed.” The attempt to attribute systemic failures to children is not only unjust but also undermines the right to education, a fundamental part of the right to life. It is imperative to address the root causes of educational shortcomings and move beyond superficial solutions like detention policy

(Author: Adama Srinivas Reddy (sreevare13[at]gmail.com) teaches at the Kakatiya Government College (Autonomous), Hanumakonda, Kakatiya University, and is a founding member of the Society for Change in Education, Telangana)

References

• Ministry of Education to implement every aspect of NEP 2020, amends “No Detention Policy” https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2087535

• Government of India,(2024): Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Rules, 2024, Ministry of Education, Gazette of India, New Delhi.

• Ministry of Human Resource Development, Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), (2012): Report of the CABE Sub-Committee for Assessment and Implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in the Context of the No Detention Provision in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, submitted by Smt Geeta Bhukkal, Education Minister, Government of Haryana, and Chairperson of CABE Sub-Committee, Government of India.

• Ministry of Law and Justice, (2009): The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, Government of India, New Delhi