After consultation with principals, teachers, students and other stakeholders, an advisory committee on Thursday submitted a report to the Delhi government, recommending against “unconditional scrapping of the no-detention policy” in classes 5 and 8.

Chaired by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) member Anurag Kundu, the committee proposed that ‘detention’ be named as ‘extension’ and the provision be exercised “only in exceptional cases.”

“The word ‘detention’ has a stigma attached to it. That is why we recommended changing it because children are getting an extra year for learning opportunity,” Kundu said.

The committee was constituted to advise the government on the no-detention policy. In January, Parliament had amended the RTE Act, doing away with the no-detention policy under which no student would be failed till class 8.

Along with advocating for an overhaul in assessment patterns, the committee also recommended that weightage must be given to attendance, participation in extracurricular activities, and presence of parents in scheduled PTMs. “5% marks to be awarded to a child whose parent/guardian has attended 3-4 PTMs,” the report said.

In a move to boost attendance in government schools, the committee suggested linking attendance to detention. “The committee has sought to urge parents to send their children to schools regularly and incentivised regular attendance as one of criteria for promotion to next class,” the report said.

It advocated for schools to take responsibility over early identification of children “likely to not score minimum marks” and “provide timely and adequate remedial education” to such students.

“In the event of the child still not scoring minimum marks, the committee has recommended that the two months additional window and another opportunity be given to the child and school’s responsibility must be fixed in ensuring attainment of foundational skills of the child in the two months window,” it added.

Apart from review of research on no-detention and global practices around it, an online survey was conducted to get suggestions from experts and public. The report said over 900 teachers, 27 parents, 26 Head of Schools and 10 researchers participated. Over 67% respondents said students may be detained in both classes 5 and 8.

First Published: Mar 09, 2019 02:08 IST