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Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) will be providing training to 642 newly recruited Sub-Inspectors (On Probation) of Delhi Police. It will be a 3 months training in legal education and will be conducted at Police training school, Wazirabad.

The training aims to provide basic training of legal education to sub-inspectors and will cover the following domains:

Indian Penal Code
Criminal Procedure Code
Indian Evidence Act
Constitution of India

The training will also help them in providing necessary skills to deal with general public. Judiciary members from district courts and practicing lawyers will be contributing as guest faculties during the course.

Central board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has posted the answer sheets of class Xth high scoring students for session 2007-2008 on its web site. This step is widely appreciated by the education fraternity, as it will give help students in learning the right way to attempt the paper.

Following subjects answer sheets have been posted on the web site:

Answer Sheet: Mathematics – Class Xth Results 2008
Answer Sheet: Social Science – Class Xth Results 2008
Answer Sheet: Science – Class Xth Results 2008

Student can easily download these answer sheets in pdf format, for thorough analysis and learning.

Today India’s economy is booming and we are seen as a strong economic power in the coming years. Despite this fact, some social issues are still of concern and should be given enough importance if we have to sustain ourselves as a strong socio-economic super power. One such issue is ‘Gender Parity In Primary Education’, which needs immediate attention by state and central governments.

Let’s see some figures* related to gender distribution in primary and secondary education in India.

Primary Schools (Class I-V) -> Parity Index: 0.94 -> 94 girls for every 100 boys
Higher Secondary (Class IX-XII) -> Parity Index: 0.80 -> 80 girls for every 100 boys

*Source: HRD Ministry, Figures of 2005-2006

The above figures gives a clear picture of wide gap between school going girls and boys. The situation is even more worse in selective areas of the country, especially in west,north west and some parts of north India. The drop out rate of girls is most in primary education, as parents prefer to spend more on their son. Early marriage, security issues also play an important role in further aggravating the situation.

The noticeable difference in gender parity index in urban and rural areas clearly indicates that more attention is needed in rural areas, where drop out rate of girls is much higher than urban areas.

Programmes like Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) launched by government in 2004, does help the cause to some extent, but more action is needed to tackle this situation. Some state governements are also offering free bicycles to girls to travel to school, resulting in decreased drop out rate of girls in these areas.

Unless, the whole outlook of society will not change on this issue, it would be very difficult to close the gap of gender parity index.

Mathematics Professor, Annaswamy Ranganath Rao is 100 years old and is one of the pioneers in popularizing the concept of Math labs in schools. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), recognized his method of teaching mathematics and made it mandatory to have math labs in CBSE schools. Since 2006, this concept has been introduced with 80 marks from theory paper and 20 marks from math lab.

Professor Rao introduced math labs way back in 1974, making it easy for students to understand various math theorems. He design new model, gadgets to explain these concepts to students, making these concepts more understandable and at the same time a playful experience too.

Department of science and technology, which has decided to nominate him for UNESCO’s prestigious Kalinga Prize for popularizing science.

Texas is going to be the first state in US, introducing Hindi textbook for high school students. Today, it is the fourth largest spoken language in North America. With the emergence of India as an economic power, states are realizing the importance to learn the Hindi language. Earlier US students were reading French, Spanish and even German in their regular curriculum.

The book ‘Namaste Ji” is developed by Arun Prakash, an Indian origin teacher. It took 8 long years for him to develop this book. Arun has been teaching Hindi to US students from 80′s and has vast experience in teaching US students.

Student exchange programmes are gaining immense popularity. In India, a large number of schools and institutions are involved in student exchange programmes. In one such exchange programme, nine students from the neighbouring country Pakistan, reached Mumbai recently. These students were as much excited as their hosts.

The nine students came all the way from Karachi to visit a municipal school in Khar, as part of an exchange programme ‘Khoj’ between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistani students were quoted as having said that Indian students are more ambitious and committed to the education. The students who reached here also said about the similarities between the education systems in the two countries. The students were keen to know about the personal lives, life style and other cultural aspects.

Even cricket was discussed and the fan clubs and sport stars, reported one website.

This student exchange is part of a programme ‘Khoj’, an initiative to spread ‘secular education among school children’. Teesta Setalvad director of Khoj says in a report published by expressindia.com: “We had started a pen pals programme between India and Pakistan in 1999. The aim is to encourage exchanges between children of two countries. We were one of the first to start such a project, which included writing letters. This visit is a step further in the project. This is their first visit and it will work best if they are able to keep in touch with each other in future.”

Students also exchanged mail addresses and promised to remain in touch with each other. Students exchange programmes have served amply in cultural diffusion and providing a broader outlook for the students.

To clear the rush of admission seeking students, Maharashtra Government has decided to open 1,600 new colleges in the state. The announcement was made by Education Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Vasant Purke.

Opening of new divisions in existing colleges have already been decided by the state government, giving some relief to admission seekers. State government is aiming to provide admission to every single student passing out from school, informed the Education Minister. The process of opening new colleges will be started from current academic year, the details of which will be available later on government website.

State government of Madhya Pradesh has passed an ordinance curbing the use of mobile phones in school premises by students and teachers.

The announcement was made on Tuesday, following complaints of excessive use of mobile phones by students and teachers during school sessions. The ban is supposed to spark a row of protest from teachers across the state.