Why scrapping no-detention policy isn't enough to improve learning outcomes

Indian states can now choose to hold children back in grades V and VIII if they fail the year-end tests, but this is not enough to improve learning outcomes, experts said.

Earlier, students could not be held back--or ‘detained’--until grade IX, under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act). This meant that students were promoted to the next grade even if their learning outcomes did not match their grade level.

The parliament passed an amendment to the RTE Act on January 2, 2019, empowering states to choose to detain students in grades V and VIII.