Sikkim
Mishandled protest
A former director of higher education, the principal of Sikkim Government College, east district superintendent of police, and a police officer were suspended for “mishandling” a students’ protest in Gangtok against a hike in college fees, admits a government press release issued on August 9. The quartet was suspended on the recommendations of the one-man committee of land revenue secretary C.T. Wangdi, constituted to inquire into the students’ protest against a nearly four-fold increase in college fees which prompted police action against them on July 14.
According to the Wangdi Committee’s report submitted to government on August 2, a “manageable and justified” protest by students was allowed to snowball into a “anarchic free-for-all,” and lathi-charge on July 14.
College students have welcomed the suspension orders served on the officials, and have thanked the state government and the committee for its “impartial report”.
Uttarakhand
Weekly inspection
Chief secretary Subhash Kumar has issued instructions to all district magistrates to send senior officials to government primary and middle schools in their jurisdiction every week for surprise inspections, and to report whether teachers are discharging their duties properly and mid-day meals are being served regularly to children.
Teachers not found in school during duty hours without any recorded evidence of their being deputed on official assignments, will be marked absent, says the chief secretary. Reports about errant teachers and mismanaged schools should be forwarded to the director general of school education for initiation of punitive action against them, adds a media release.
Madhya Pradesh
Absenteeism record
A 46-year-old government school teacher of Madhya Pradesh has been absent from her job for a record 23 years. “Out of her total 24-year-long career, teacher Sangita Kashyap has remained absent for 23 years,” Sushma Vaishya, principal of the Government Ahilya Ashram School (No.1), confirmed to mediapersons in Indore on August 5.
According to Vaishya, Kashyap joined the Madhya Pradesh school education department in 1990 as a school teacher in the Dewas Government Maharani Radhabai Kanya Vidyalaya. However, she applied for — and was granted — unpaid leave from 1991 to 1994.
In 1994, Kashyap was transferred to the Government Ahilya Ashram School (No.1), but in the same year went on “maternity leave,” and hasn’t reported for duty ever since.
Similarly, another higher grade school teacher named Rachna Dube had applied for leave to “do her doctorate (Ph D)” about ten years ago, but till date she hasn’t reported for duty, said Vaishya. Subsequently, the school informed the district education officer (DEO) about it.
The DEO claims his office has sent papers related to taking “disciplinary action” against both these school teachers to the office of the joint director of the Madhya Pradesh school education department. He is “investigating” whether their salaries and increments were paid directly into their bank accounts.
Odisha
New KISS students
Thirty-three tribal youth from the Bonda hills in Malkangiri district have been admitted into the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, for higher education, says a KISS press statement of August 13. The Bonda tribe is one of the oldest and most educationally backward in the country, and mainly resides in the Khairiput, Bilasanipada, Padeiguda and Mudulipada forests of the Bondaghati region of Odisha.
KISS claims to be the largest free-of-charge residential institute of K-12 and higher education worldwide for tribal students. Special admission was granted to this batch at the request of the state government.
Of these 33 students who have all passed their class X school-leaving board examinations, 16 boys and five girls arrived at the KISS campus on August 12. The remaining students will join soon, says a spokesperson of the institute.
Himachal Pradesh
Nursing ed thrust
The state government has invited expressions of interest from private educationists for promoting four nursing schools and three colleges in Himachal Pradesh.
The general nursing and midwifery (GNM) schools will be sited in Shimla and Mandi districts, and B.Sc nursing colleges in Chamba, Jogindernagar and Mandi, a health ministry spokesperson announced in Shimla on August 18. The state government has constituted committees to conduct inspection of these locations.
In addition, two auxiliary nurse midwifery private sector schools with annual intake capacity of 30 seats each have been made functional in Shahpur and Nurpur. Moreover the Indian Nursing Council has permitted the establishment of another B.Sc nursing college at Shahpur with an annual intake capacity of 40 seats from the academic session 2014-15.