RTE amendment Bill passed in Parliament

Parliament has passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018, with the Rajya Sabha approving it on Thursday. 

The Lok Sabha had already passed the bill seeking to further amend the Right to Education Act, 2009 to abolish the no-detention policy in schools. 

No student can be detained up to class 8th under current provisions of the Act. 

As per the amendment, it would be left to the States to decide whether to continue the no-detention policy.   

Replying to a discussion on the Bill, Human Resource



Development Minister Prakash Javadekar assured the Rajya Sabha that no child will be excluded from school in case he or she fails. He said such children will be provided two-month remedial teaching to perform better in another examination to be conducted by their schools. 

The Minister said 25 states favoured abolishing the no-detention policy. He said even the parents supported the move as learning outcomes of the students have been poor. 

Mr Javadekar said the government has been increasing the budget for education, with over 40 per cent hike since 2014.