Jharkhand
Sweeping ed reforms call
The opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation which has one MLA in the Jharkhand legislative assembly, has demanded sweeping changes in the education delivery mechanism in the state, and more teeth to recall non-performing panchayat (village council) members.
According to Vinod Kumar Singh, the party’s sole representative in the legislative assembly, even though the government’s focus has been on primary and middle schools, there is a widespread shortage of teachers. Demanding focus on higher education too, he called for a commission to probe into problems plaguing the state’s education system.
Agreeing with the state government’s devolution of powers to a three-tier panchayat system, Singh, however, asked for the right to recall non-performing members in panchayat councils.
Assam
Minister promises education drive
More technical and higher education institutions are likely to be promoted in north-east India with the government committed to uplift the region, Union HRD minister M. M. Pallam Raju, said in Guwahati on June 8.
Speaking at the 15th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G), the minister said IIT-G should emerge as the regional hub for education research and development. “With the projected development of infrastructure and progressive industrialisation in the wake of the government’s look east policy, more institutions imparting technical and higher education are likely to come up in this region,’’ he said.
According to the minister, India’s north-east region currently hosts seven Central universities and eight National Institutes of Technology (NITs), including six new NITs in different stages of development. “I would like to see IIT-Guwahati to become a regional hub of the national knowledge network and share its expertise and resources with other institutions of higher education and research through virtual classrooms and collaborative research,’’ he added.
Arunachal Pradesh
Education commissioner demand
The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) has demanded an independent commissioner to upgrade education in the state. “The incumbent commissioner is also holding charge of some other departments. It isn’t possible for him to give his heart and soul to the cause of education in our state,” said the union’s represent-ation letter to the education minister.
According to AAPSU president Kamta Lapung, education needs cons-tant monitoring at all levels. “Education needs a separate commissioner to devote himself to the cause of education development,’’ said Lapung addressing the media in Itanagar on June 9.
Lapung also urged the government to immediately announce cash incentives for sportspersons who have brought laurels to the state. “It would be unwise to expect anything without hard work, consistency, perseverance in any game or sport. Arunachal’s youth have huge potential which could benefit them and the nation if they are encouraged,” he said.
Kerala
NCERT revises textbooks
The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has deleted “objectionable’’ references to the Nadar and Ezhava communities of Kerala in history textbooks. The decision to revise the textbooks and issue them afresh from this academic session onwards, was taken by a meeting of academics and NCERT officials convened by Union minister of state for human resource develop-ment, Shashi Tharoor.
In a statement issued in Thiruva-nanthapuram on June 7, Tharoor welcomed the “prompt and corrective action’’ taken by NCERT to revise the history textbooks of classes VIII-XII. “It’s a matter of great satisfaction that the matter has been appropriately resolved by balancing the various issues involved,” said Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram consti-tuency in the Lok Sabha.
The controversy had arisen over the language used in NCERT history textbooks about the Nadar and Ezhava communities, and great social reformers from within these communities.
Goa
Report recommends sex education
A committee constituted by the Goa state government to suggest ways and means to abate sex crimes against women and children has recommended sex education as a compulsory subject in school curriculums.
The committee chaired by MLA Vishnu Surya Wagh was constituted in April following the rape of a school girl at Vasco in January, and molestation of another child by her teacher in Panaji last year.
“Health and sex education should be made mandatory in schools. The education department should also organise talks by resource persons, open forums, workshops, street plays and others to make students, teachers and the public aware of sex issues,’’ says the report released in Panaji on June 12. “Police clearance for appointment of teachers in all schools should also be made compulsory,” adds the report.
Himachal Pradesh
Colleges closure order
In a judgement delivered in Shimla on June 18, the Himachal Pradesh high court upheld the state government’s decision to close eight colleges without adequate infrastructure inaugurated by the previous BJP government which was voted out in the legislative election of 2012.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice A. M. Khanwilakar and Justice Kuldeep Singh upheld the decision to close the new colleges housed in three-five rooms.
The previous BJP government had inaugurated eight colleges in Rewalsar, Nihri, Ladbharol, Baldwara, Sarahan, Nankhari, Solan and Kotla Behar through the issue of notifications issued between June 23-September 6, 2012.