The Indian Express | 10 September 2016
Delhi High Court said 'no detention policy' prescribed under the Right to Education (RTE) Act was being 'misinterpreted'.
The Delhi High Court Friday issued notice on a PIL that has said the “no detention policy” prescribed under the Right to Education (RTE) Act was being “misinterpreted” in government schools, leading to a situation where over 70 per cent students in the capital are unable to read basic Hindi or English.
Citing the “abysmal” learning level outcomes for children studying in classes VI-VIII in government schools, the PIL filed by the Centre for Civil Society said studies by NGO Pratham in 2014 and the Delhi government had shown that “more than 62 per cent students in classes VI-VIII in government schools cannot read a sentence in English and more than 72 per cent cannot do basic division”.
The plea has sought court orders for implementation of Section 16 of the RTE Act, which allows for assessment of students at all levels by teachers or an outside agency. Observing that the issue was “serious” and “required due consideration”, the bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notice to the Directorate of Education (DoE), the three municipal corporations and the NDMC and directed them to file their responses by November 28.
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