Delhi
Indian Army pleads RTE Act exemption
The Indian Army is opposed to implementing s. 12 (1) (c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (aka RTE Act), which mandates 25 percent reservation for children of weaker and disadvantaged groups in the neighbourhood of its 150 schools countrywide. Accor-ding to an army spokesperson, it will hamper the educational prospects of wards of its personnel. A letter to this effect has been sent to the Union defence ministry by Army Head-quarters, New Delhi on October 7.
Citing a Supreme Court judgement which classifies defence services personnel as an educationally disad-vantaged group, an army spokesperson says lack of proper education facilities for their children is a major reason behind increasing stress levels among army personnel. In view of these considerations, a Parliamentary standing committee has recommended additional schools for wards of army personnel as due to their frequent postings, each child generally receives her school education in at least five-six institutions.
The defence services finance their captive schools from their own welfare funds and don’t receive any separate budgetary allocation for the purpose. “The land on which defence services schools are sited are as per the Key Location Plan and/or Army Moderni-sation Works Plan,” adds the spokes-person.
Bihar
Tokyo University-Super 30 agreement
Bihar’s nationally acclaimed Mathematical Group (aka Super 30), which trains students from economically backward classes for the joint entrance examination of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT-JEE), has inked an agreement with University of Tokyo under which the latter will sponsor the study of Super 30 students in Japan.
Under the terms of an agreement signed in Patna on October 24 by Anand Kumar, the founder of Super 30, and Yoshino Hiroshi, director of Tokyo University, the latter will sponsor at least one Super 30 student per year. The agreement becomes effective from October 2013.
Hiroshi says Tokyo University’s agreement with Super 30 is an outcome of the Japanese government’s Global 30 programme to increase the inflow of Indian students into Japan. “Currently of the 140,000 foreign students in the country, only 600 are from India. The government target is to increase the number of foreign students to 300,000 by 2020 of whom a substantial number will be from India, particularly science and technology students,” he adds.
Haryana
Legal literacy drive
In collaboration with the state’s education department, the Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HALSA) is proceeding full throttle to establish Legal Literacy Clubs in all private schools, colleges and technical institutions statewide. Lessons in law will also be integrated into curriculums of schools and colleges from the next academic session.
While addressing a seminar at the Judicial Courts Complex, Ambala on October 4, Justice A. K. Sikri, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court said that Legal Literacy Clubs have already been inaugurated in 1,544 schools and 171 colleges in Haryana.
Tamil Nadu
Dropouts reinduction pilot project
Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga and Perambalur districts have been chosen for implementing a pilot scheme to provide education to school dropouts, according to state project coordinator Joseph Xavier. Addressing media personnel in Sivaganga on October 21, Xavier said children who have dropped out of school for reasons beyond their control would be identified, re-admitted and provided education until completion of Plus Two (class XII).
An Australian NGO is assisting the programme for students in the age group six-14, says Xavier. The students reinduction project supported by the Tamil Nadu and Odisha governments, will be implemented in these states on a trial basis. Under the scheme, five “opinion makers” have been selected in the districts to identify dropouts and persuade them to renew their education. “Progress reports will be sent to the International Teachers Forum and Australian Education Union until completion of the pilot project,” says Xavier.
Puducherry
Trilateral cooperation agreement
The Pondicherry Central University (PCU) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Michel de Montaigne University, Bordeaux, France and the French Institute of Pondicherry for academic cooperation and exchange of teachers on October 26. PCU registrar S. Loganathan, Michel de Montaigne vice president Dr. Christian Bouquet, and Dr. Pierre Gerard, director of the French Institute of Pondicherry, signed and exchanged documents covering higher education and research, and also made commitments to facilitate academic cooperation in arts, humanities, lang-uages and human and social sciences with PCU.
“There will be a regular exchange of teachers and research scholars between the three institutions, besides exchange of students,” said PCU vice chancellor J.A.K.Tareen, speaking on the occasion.
Chandigarh
New programme for rural youth
The Punjab state government has introduced a six-year B.Tech degree programme for rural students directly after class X. Disclosing this on October 11, a spokesperson of the state government said the provision of post-secondary education to rural youth charged nominal fees, will be under the aegis of the Punjab Institutes of Technology (PITs) established state-wide under the supervision of Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar.
“The first PIT was established in Mansa on a trial basis. Its success has prompted the rollout of PITs statewide. In consonance with national policy, we have reserved a special quota in each PIT for students from weaker sections of society, defined as households with annual incomes below Rs.2.5 lakh,” the spokesperson added.