Bihar
Strong indictment
The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India has castigated the incumbent Nitish Kumar-led government for the sorry state of affairs in secondary education in Bihar (pop.103.8 million). Interacting with media in Patna on July 21, Preman Dinaraj, principal accountant general of Bihar, said though enrolment of primary students increased by 60 percent during the period 2005-10, implementation of secondary education programmes has suffered due to lack of reliable data, absence of long term and realistic operational plans. ‘Savings’ in the plan budget ranged between 28-82 percent during the quinquennium, he added.
According to the comptroller’s report, there was a “gross mismatch” between the number of classrooms, bench-desks and number of students enroled in 241 test-checked schools. In 139 schools there was only one classroom for 70-408 students, while in 51 schools only one classroom was available for classes II-IV. In 64 schools only one desk was available for seven-15 students while in 18 schools 16-41 students shared a single bench.
The CAG also highlights that of 22 schools checked, one school had nine teachers but no students, whereas in four others the number of students enroled ranged from 141-741 but were bereft of even one teacher. According to Dinaraj, against the required number of 58,760 teachers in the state as per the Common Education Commission’s recommen-dation, the number of teachers in secondary education was a mere 26,631.
Manipur
Downgraded status protest
A teachers association has objected to a Manipur government order bringing elementary schools in hill districts under the jurisdiction of autonomous district councils (ADCs). The state government’s order down-grades the status of education in the hill districts, the All Manipur Hill Teachers’ Association (AMHTA) said in a press statement issued on July 16. The association has threatened to call a strike if the order is not withdrawn.
Currently, all elementary schools in hill districts are under the jurisdiction of the Directorate (Schools) Education. Following the new government order, elementary schools in the hill districts will be governed by elected ADCs. At present there are six ADCs in the hill districts of Manipur (pop. 2.72 million). Elections to ADCs were held late last year after a hiatus of 20 years.
Gujarat
New tuition fees guidelines
The Gujarat state government has banned collection of school develop-ment and capitation fees levied by some private schools in the state (pop.60 million). On July 1, education minister Raman Vora issued a new set of model guidelines to be implemented by all private and aided schools. He has warned stern action against schools which violate the guidelines issued under the Gujarat State Secondary Education Rules, 1972.
The new guidelines also ban schools from collecting admission fees and interviewing students or parents. Under the revised guidelines, private schools cannot increase tuition fees without prior intimation to parents. Moreover the percentage of proposed fee hikes should be posted on websites and school notice boards. “School managements should inform parents six months in advance if they plan to raise school fees in the next academic year,” said Vora adding that institutional managements should ensure that tuition fees are commensurate with the infrastructure and services they provide.
Kerala
Teachers protest government policies
The pro-communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) has strongly criticised the newly-elected Congress-led UDF government’s education initiatives. Addressing a press conference called in Thiruvanan-thpuram on July 22, KSTA leaders said they plan to organise a protest march to the government secretariat. Their main demands include job security for teachers, implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009 and pay revision for teachers.
In particular, KSTA criticised the UDF government’s invitation to private edupreneurs to enter school education under the pretext of multiplying the number of schools offering the CBSE curriculum. According to KSTA leader M.A. Shajahan, government and state-aided schools already offer high quality K-12 education, precluding the need for CBSE affiliated schools. The association also wants the government to assure them that there will be no retrenchment of teachers on account of drop in enrolments “due to demographic reasons”.
Uttar Pradesh
Deoband slams RTE Act
Terming the right to Education Act, 2009 as an “attack” on the autonomy of Islamic madarsa schools and other minority institutions, the Darul Uloom Seminary Deoband called a press conference in Lucknow on July 28 to oppose its “anti-minorities” provisions.
“The seminary will strongly protest the move to snatch rights of madarsas through the RTE Act and it is in agreement with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which is already opposing it,” said newly-appointed vice chancellor Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani.
According to Nomani, at a programme organised by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind in Delhi an year ago when apprehensions were raised in this regard, Union human resources development minister Kapil Sibal had assured them that minority educational institutions would be kept out of the ambit of the Act. “But this has not been done,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh (pop.200 million) hosts 6,000 madarsas and 6,500 minority schools. Earlier, on July 24 AIMPLB held a meeting to protest the RTE Act. At the meeting it was resolved that if the Centre does not exclude madarsas and other minority institutions from the ambit of the Act, a nationwide agitation would be launched after Ramzan.
According to AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani, as per the Constitution of India, minority communities can teach their own curriculums or adopt some provisions of the government mandated curriculums “But under s.8 and s.9 of the RTE Act, this power has been conferred solely upon the Centre and local authorities,” he said.