New Delhi: A ministerial panel on education has recommended alterations to the current no-detention policy introduced by the UPA government in 2010, under the Right to Education (RTE), and suggested screening of students at class 5 and 8 levels.

"We have given our recommendations on the no-detention policy to 22 states, of which 18 have agreed to the change. We have recommended detaining students in Class 5 and Class 8 only," said Vasudev Devnani, primary education minister of Rajasthan, who heads the panel of state ministers on the new national education policy being formulated by the HRD ministry.

The students would be required to clear a committee-recommended state-level test in class 5 and 8. The students will get a second shot at the test if in the first try they fail to pass it.

"If a student fails to clear the learning level, he or she would have to appear for a re-test within a month. We will not detain students till Class 4, but it will be done if they fail in Class 5," Devnani said.

The no-detention policy, however, will continue to be applicable to the students of other classes, till class 8.

These recommendations come on the heels of a survey conducted by Pratham, a non-governmental organisation, that found that educational standards of students up to the upper primary level at the country's government schools had fallen in the last eight years, especially in English and Math. (image courtesy: traintheteacher.files.wordpress.com)