Amend Right to Education Act: Education minister C Raveendranath

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government would not oppose the Centre’s decision on Wednesday to scrap the no-detention policy followed till standard VIII. However, sources in the office of education minister C. Raveendranath said the Right to Education Act has to be amended for the purpose as it had made it clear that no student can be detained till the age of 14. The state is not in favour of scrapping the no-detention policy, but do not want to go for a confrontation.

Even though education is on the concurrent list, the Union government can take policy decisions regarding education. However, they could not make any administrative measures, and only states have the right to do so. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) had earlier recommended that the 'no-detention' clause in the Right to Education Act be amended which may result in children from class V till class VIII being detained if they fail exams.

In pursuance of a resolution adopted at a meeting of the CABE held on June 6, 2012, a sub-committee was constituted to study the implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in the context of the no-detention provision in the RTE Act. The panel submitted its report in August 2014, and it was placed before CABE at its meeting held on August 19, 2014. All states and Union territories were asked to share their views on the no-detention policy. As many as 28 states have shared their opinion out of which 23 suggested modifications. Former education minister P. K. Abdul Rabb had also approved scrapping of no-detention policy.