SHEMBLOG

The Union Cabinet has finally passed the Right to Education Bill. This controversial Bill had been deferred twice before. It had earlier faced opposition from the Law, Finance ministries where the major issue was the financial contribution of each state. The Right to Education Bill essentially means that every child in the age group of 6-to-14 has a right to elementary education that is provided free and compulsory and is of equitable quality and available in an accessible area.

This Bill is aimed at setting up certain minimum standards for public and private schools. This would eventually mean raising the worth of educational facilities across the nation. The government is very positive as it realises that the Bill would also help to restrict the problems of child labour and malnutrition. However, the Bill might still face hurdles as it has a clause that makes it compulsory for the private schools to reserve nearly 25% of the seats for the unprivileged and poor children.

The Supreme Court has stayed a plan proposed by the central government to keep some seats reserved for the backward-category students for a period of three years in the higher educational establishments across various states in the country. The SC bench dismissed the plea which wanted that the seats reserved for candidates of the OBC category, if left vacant, shouldn’t be allocated to the general category, GC students.

On behalf of the government, the plea was brought forward by solicitor Goolam Vahanvati. He gave the example of JNU where the government had to allow the vacant seats of the OBC category to be filled by the candidates of the general category. This was argued as a contradiction to the recent educational reservations made for the OBC students. The SC bench, however, rejected this proposal and adjudicated that this was a waste of national resources. The SC has fixed another future hearing in this case.

The Indian government’s 11th Five Year Plan had insisted upon setting up new IITs to broaden the horizon for graduate and post-graduate education. The HRD Ministry had asked the various IITs if they could accommodate extra students. This initiative was further undertaken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had appealed to the IITs having extra land and the potential to expand.

IIT Guwahati has a major advantage in this regards and nearly 550 acres of its campus would now be used for expansion. The establishment is planning to increase its student intake by nearly three-folds. IIT Guwahati has proposed to enhance its present infrastructure to double its student capacity by the year 2012. The increase in student numbers would mean nearly a 54 per cent rise in the available seats.

The number of Indians having migrated to or studying in Australia has nearly doubled in the last decade. Now, the Indian segment of the population is demanding more recognition and respect for their native language — Hindi. Indian students at the High School Certificate or the HSC level have developed an inclination towards learning the language and want to pursue it as a mainstream subject. However, a minuscule number of universities and schools offer Hindi and that too as an option.

Many Indians working as teachers in Australian schools and universities want to see Hindi being introduced in the school curriculum at par with other European languages. They feel that with the growing number of Hindi-speaking population in Australia and the increasing volume of trade relations between Australia and India, learning the language makes absolute sense. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Sydney has made a significant contribution towards this cause and it organises special Sunday Hindi classes for those wishing to learn Hindi.

Eight students have set a precedent for contesting and claiming one’s right to education by winning a legal battle against government schools that had denied them admission. Vipin Chandra Pal Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Babarpur had denied admission to two girl students. Naazneen and Nasara were told that they were over 18 years of age and hence, couldn’t seek admission into the school.

The students’ petition was filed at the Delhi High Court and their case was argued by Ashok Aggarwal. He argued the case on the basis of the fact that the right to education is mentioned as an Indian citizen’s fundamental right and it couldn’t be declined due to the consideration of their age. Six other students had sought admission to various government schools in Delhi but were denied on some whimsical pretexts.

One of these six students, Kiran was seeking admission to Class 7 but was denied on the basis that she had completed her earlier education in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh and her transfer certificate wasn’t countersigned by the concerned authorities. However, the Court ruled that a student’s education couldn’t be compromised due to the sluggishness of the bureaucratic system. The other five students have also been granted admission into various government schools.

The Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha (GGSIP) University and some of its affiliated engineering colleges ran into trouble when the Delhi High Court issued a notice to them, seeking transparency in the University’s policies for students seeking migration to other colleges.

The three engineering colleges that find themselves in a predicament include Bharatiya Vidya Peeth, Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology and Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology. These colleges have been asked to file a reply within four weeks. The Court’s hearing has been set for January 10, 2009.

The Court’s decision came in wake of a petition filed a second-year B. Tech student of Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology. He had challenged the legitimacy of the college’s migration rule — Revised Ordinance 7. His counsel insisted on the lack of clarity in the migration process.

They alleged that vacant seats in most branches of engineering colleges under GGSIP University weren’t revealed and this was of disadvantage to the students seeking migration from one college to another. The petitioner sought the GGSIP University to make the migration procedure more transparent by declaring vacant seats, preferably, on the University’s website.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or the SSA is a central government project aimed at making education accessible to every child in India. The initiative was launched in 2001. Since then, over 35 million Indian children have joined the noble mission. The main aim of the SSA is to provide primary education to every child and improve upon the quality of education imparted.

With the mission’s progress, the drop-out rate among children, receiving primary education, has also seen a considerable decline. The SSA’s funds allocation has been on the rise ever since its launch, as the mission has been hugely successful. Even the Supreme Court maintains that a right to one’s life is includes a fair opportunity and a right to education. The National Human Rights Commission has further stressed upon the importance of the SSA and the right to education for every child.

The former President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad will be teaching a batch of 70 students in the country’s premier managment institute, IIM-A. The course, named as “Globalising a Resurgent India through Innovative Transformation (GRIT)” will be attended by the students in the Ahmedabad.

The course is aimed to address reflect on the key areas like Urban-rural divide, Water Conservation, Energy and Security and will also deal with various issues pertaining to the said subjects.  The course has been designed by the former president himself and Professor Anil K.Gupta of the same institute. Other issues regarding governance and policy making, will be covered in the course.