BANGALORE: When the Centre introduced the Right to Education (RTE) Act four years ago, the aim was to ensure the poorest of children had access to quality education. For many parents, it was a dream come true - to see their child study in an English-medium school alongside the privileged. Taking forward the RTE series, TOI goes back to five parents who now dare to dream big, thanks to the RTE.
BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday ordered notice to the state and central governments in a PIL challenging the state government's recent notification stipulating that schools seeking minority status should have at least 25 per cent students belonging to the respective community - down from 75 percent earlier.
Aug 31st was the deadline for schools to install CCTVs and put other safety measures in place. The Education Department had issued their own set of guidelines. What are schools doing?
With most school managements in Bengaluru reluctant to adhere to some of the child safety guidelines issued by the Police Department, there is uncertainty in the air.
MYSORE: The rate of school dropouts is high among children from Muslim community in Mysore city. Education officials attribute it to "poverty, illiteracy among parents and local environment". S Chandrapatil, deputy project coordinator at Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), claimed that the north education block has the highest number of dropouts. Here, majority of the students are from Muslim families. As many as 1,338 students studying in Class VI, VII and VIII have quit learning to work as per a joint survey report made by the members of an NGO and the education department.
Private school managements on Wednesday raised objections to the government circulars regarding safety and security of students in schools. They threatened not to obey the circulars unless the government engaged them in a dialogue.
School managements in Bangalore on Wednesday came together to express discontent over guidelines proposed by police.
Terming them impractical, several school associations said they would start implementing them only after consulting the education department.
The association also hinted at a 10-15% increase in fee if they're forced to implement it.
BANGALORE: Private school associations seem to be divided over the issue of hiking fees following the recent circular by police on mandatory installation of CCTV cameras.
The Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association (KUSMA) has said it is not in favour of burdening the parents with a hike in fees. An official communication from the association urged private unaided schools not to charge parents for installing CCTVs. Instead, it asked them to “spend from their built-up financial reserves”.
The State government will revisit the proposal by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to bring all schools under the ambit of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983.
Initially, the Act had stated that schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) would not be under its purview.
However, in 2011, the High Court of Karnataka had said that CBSE and ICSE schools would come under the Karnataka Education Act and had quashed the relevant section.
BANGALORE: While the blame game has begun on safety and security in school, the government has a huge role to play.
The Karnataka Education Act clearly specifies that it's the duty of government officials like the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) and Block Education Officer (BEO) to ensure all is well. The recently implemented Right to Education Act reinforces the role of these officers in the smooth functioning of a private institution. The buck clearly stops with them.
Bengaluru: Irrespective of whether or not Vibgyor school has a ‘dark room’ used exclusively for isolating students, the fact remains that the victim has clearly stated that she was locked in a room as punishment for bad behaviour. Apart from making her vulnerable to an attack by the perpetrators, punishment of any sort is strictly against the rules of the Right to Education Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.