Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday in a letter to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar said the decision of the Centre to scrap "no detention policy" in the Right to Education (RTE) Act in schools, was because of its "poor" and "thoughtless" implementation.
In the letter, Sisodia who also holds the portfolio of education said it was "unfortunate" that "no detention policy" needed to be scrapped, which otherwise was a progressive education reform.
"The no-detention policy was a progressive education reform and it is unfortunate that we have had to roll it back. And the reason we have had to do this is because it was poorly and thoughtlessly implemented," Sisodia stated.
"This decision was needed as an emergency measure to end the current crises across the country, where academic standards schools are rapidly deteriorating."
On August 2, the Union Cabinet approved the scrapping of the no-detention policy in schools till Class VIII. An enabling provision will be made in the right of children for free and compulsory education amendment Bill which will allow States to hold back students in Class V and Class VIII if they fail in the year-end exam.
Under the present provision of the RTE, students are promoted automatically to higher classes till Class VIII.
Sisodia said that for this policy to have been successful, the Government needed to change the curriculum, improve assessments, train teachers, but none of it was done.
"How can we expect a reform like 'no detention policy' to succeed if it is implemented without preparationIJ And the tragedy of our Government schools in India is the most reforms are poorly implemented and the quality of education in our schools keeps deteriorating," he said.
Sisodia said it is time to rethink about the education system adopted by the Government schools in the country, where millions of students come to study.