Removal of No Detention Policy will be disastrous for the RTE Act

The Right to Education (RTE) strongly condemns the proposal of the Delhi government to amend the RTE ACT, 2009, calling the move completely illegal and against the fundamental right to education. Mr. Ambarish Rai, Convener, RTE Forum stated that ‘The consequence of detaining a child in the same class works adversely on the child’s psyche and has an impact on his/her self-esteem.


It often affects the child’s motivation to continue in school which results in drop-out or rather, being pushed out of the school system. Moreover, there is no evidence available that anywhere which states that detention in the same class has improved the learning of any child. It is important to note the profile of these children, who are generally from the marginalised sections of the society and are often, first generation learners”. Moreover, he questioned the authority of the state government to amend a central law that is enacted by the Parliament.

He stated that instead of focusing on weakening the RTE Act which provides free and compulsory education to all children in the country within the age group of 6-14, the government should think of innovative ways to strengthen the system. Removing the no- detention clause puts the entire blame of a dysfunctional and poor education system- upon the child. Mr. Rai said "The government has failed to implement the CCE. If the CCE was implemented in the proper manner, then there would have been no need to remove the no-detention policy".


Regards!
Ambarish Rai
National Convenor
RTE Forum

Press Release