Educating the vulnerable: no-detention masks tribal learning deficits

In India, a law made in 2010 said every child who went to school would move up to the next grade every year, no matter what.

The idea was to be kind to children and make sure nobody felt like a failure.

But in faraway tribal villages of West Bengal, this rule caused a big problem.

Some children never learned to read well, but they were still moved to higher grades.

By the time they reached 6th or 7th grade, many could not read like a 2nd grader or do simple math.

That happened because one teacher often taught many grades at once, lessons were in a different language than the one spoken at home, and children sometimes missed school to help their families with forest work.

In 2019, the Indian Parliament changed the law and let states hold children back in 5th and 8th grade if they had not learned enough.

West Bengal now allows schools to do this, and 16 states have joined too.

But the article says holding children back is only a first step.

To really learn, children need better schools, more teachers, and lessons in their own language.