(a) whether the Government is planning to provide special assistance to the State which have
a literacy rate below the national average and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government is planning to review its no detention policy in the light of the
recent education reports on the performance of students in Government schools; and
(c) if so, the details of the same?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL ''NISHANK'')
(a) In order to focus on the areas where the literacy levels are low, the Department of School
Education & Literacy (SE&L) has identified Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs).
Initially 3073 EBBs were identified on the basis of the twin criteria of Female Literacy Rate
being below the national average of 46.13 per cent and Gender Gap in Literacy being above
the national average of 21.59 per cent. Both these criteria had been earmarked by the
Registrar General of India (RGI).
Further, 406 more blocks were included, out of which 404 blocks had rural Female
Literacy Rate of less than 45 per cent, irrespective of the Gender Gap. In addition one Block
from West Bengal with SC Rural Female Literacy Rate of 9.47 per cent was also included,
taking the total number of EBBs to 3479.
(b) & (c) Section 16 of the RTE Act, 2009 provided that ''No child admitted in a school shall be
held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education.'' The
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019 amending ''NoDetention''
provision in sections 16 and 38 of the RTE Act, 2009, was notified on 11th January,
2019. The RTE (Amendment) Act, 2019 provides that:
A. (1) There shall be a regular examination in the fifth class and in the eighth class at the end of
every academic year.
(2) If a child fails in the examination referred to in sub-section (1), he shall be given additional
instruction and granted opportunity for re-examination within a period of two months from the
date of declaration of the result.
(3) The appropriate Government may allow schools to hold back a child in the fifth class or in
the eighth class or in both classes, in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be
prescribed, if he fails in the re-examination referred to in sub-section (2):
Provided that the appropriate Government may decide not to hold back a child in any
class till the completion of elementary education.
(4) No child shall be expelled from a school till the completion of elementary education.
B. The clause namely (fa) "the manner and the conditions subject to which a child may be held
back under sub-section (3) of section 16" has been added to section 38(2) of the RTE Act,
2009.