Over a lakh children in Delhi still out of school

New Delhi: More than one lakh children in the national capital are still out of school, a report by the human resource development ministry said as the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act completed a year on Friday since its implementation.

The RTE report card which analyzed the primary education scenario in the country was released especially for the occasion.

According to the report, 1,24,022 children in the age group of six to 14 were out of school in Delhi, as per a survey in 2009. Across the country, the out-of-school children figure stands at 81,50,619.

"It's unfortunate that 81,50,619 children in the age group of six to 14 are still out of school. We have to bring all those children to school," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said while releasing the report.

On a positive note however, Delhi has scored quite well in other parameters.

For instance, as compared to national figure of pupil-teacher ratio of 32, in Delhi the ratio is 28. Then, at the national level the percentage of teachers without professional qualification is 21, but in Delhi it stands at one.

Water drinking facility is present in 100 percent schools in Delhi. 79 percent schoolshere have girls toilets, 71 percent schools have ramps for disadvantaged students, 75 percent schools have playground and 98 percent have boundary walls.

Delhi is one of the 11 states which have constituted a state commission to monitor implementation of the RTE Act. Notification of the state rules however is still "in process", the report said.

A total of 16,84,425 students have been enrolled in the primary level in Delhi and 9,82,164 in the upper primary level. Delhi has 3,034 government and aided schoolsand has 57,777 teachers in these schools.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/Over_a_lakh_children_in_Delhi_still_out_of_school_13790/

2.15 lakh learners to receive degrees on Convocation Day

New Delhi: IGNOU will host the 22nd ConvocationCeremony at Sanchar Kendra at the IGNOUHeadquarters on April 2, 2011

Nearly 2.15 lakh students will receive degrees/diplomas with 78 gold medallists across the nation. Nearly 6,628 students from Delhi will receive degrees/diplomas with 12 gold medalists from the capital itself. Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal will be the chief guest at the ceremony.

All students who have passed their Master, Bachelor and Diploma examinations held in December 2009 and June 2010 are eligible for award of degrees/ diplomas.

A committee for Liaison, Transport and Accommodation etc. constituted by the Vice Chancellor resolved that five mini buses and 20 Gramin Sewa vehicles would be engaged for providing transportation to the students and guests who attend the 22nd convocation. The pick-up points will be Saket Metro Station and Saket (Traffic Court, Near Anupam Apartment).

Students who have registered for getting their degree certificates in person at convocation will be eligible to attend the convocation at New Delhi and at the respective regional centres. The main function will be held at New Delhi for award of gold medals, degrees and diplomas to eligible students and simultaneously at its regional centres at Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Agartala, Aligarh, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Cochin, Chandigarh, Darbhanga, Dehradun, Guwahati, Gangtok, Hyderabad, Itanagar, Imphal, Jammu, Jaipur, Jabalpur, Karnal, Khanna, Kolkatta, Koraput, Kohima, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Panaji, Raipur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Shillong, Shimla, Siliguri, Srinagar, Trivandrum, Varanasi and Vijaywada through teleconferencing mode.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/2.15_lakh_learners_to_receive_degrees_on_Convocation_Day_13792/

DU opens admissions for Undergraduate professional courses

The Delhi University has announced the admission for under-graduate professional courses in Bachelor of Business Studies, Bachelor of Financial and Investment Analysis and B.A. (Honours) Business Economics for all aspiring students who want to seek admission and can register themselves online from April 4 onwards.

The registration window will continue till May 4. Three websites are available for the admissionprocedure - www.south.du.ac.in/fassh, http://dducollege.du.ac.in and www.sscbsdu.ac.in. The USP of the admission procedure is the online format including registration and payment of fees in a bid to save paper wastage and go green. Theprospectus too is available in the online format. The fees can be paid online through credit card and net banking.

The combined entrance examination will be held on June 5 in Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Kolkata. This is the second consecutive year a commonentrance examination is being held for the three courses. The results will be declared on June 25.

In case students encounter difficulties while filling the online admission form, they can write to admissionhelpdesk@gmail.com and call dedicated telephone lines- 011-45108880/81/82/83. Help desks will also be set up at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Ram Lal Anand College (evening), S.G.T.B. Khalsa College and Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.

The facility of cash deposit at post offices and designated branches of Axis Bank has also been provided.

Admission to all three courses is based on equal weightage for Class XII marks and the score in the entrance test. Group discussion and personal interview are additional components for admission to the BBSS and BFIA courses.

The BBS course with 277 seats is available at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Keshav Mahavidyalaya and Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies while the B.A. (Hons.) Business Economics with 550 seats is being offered at Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, College of Vocational Studies, Gargi College, Lakshmibai College, Maharaja Agrasen College, RLA College (Evening), S.G.G.S. College of Commerce, S.G.N.D. Khalsa College, S.G. T.B. Khalsa Colelge and Shivaji College.

The BFIA course which has 62 seats is available only at the Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/DU_opens_admissions_for_Undergraduate_professional_courses_13791/

'Lack of political will hampering implementation of RTE Act'

New Delhi: A year after the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the dream of universal education still remains a distant reality for many children due to the lack of political will in the states, experts said on Thursday.

According to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the chief monitoring body of the Act's implementation, only 13 states have notified their state rules.

"Without notification, how can the states implement the RTE Act? Notification of the rules means a financial commitment on behalf of the states, liketeachers' salaries and the like. For this there has to be a political commitment," NCPCR chairperson Shantha Sinha said.

Taking stock of the progress of the RTE Act, she added, "There are drawbacks, including lack of human resources but with political commitment, we can skip timelines to make sure the RTE reaches every child in this country." 

A report taking stock of implementation of RTE in India was presented by the RTE Forum - a coalition of over 25 national civil society organizations and over 10,000 grass roots networks - at the conference.

According to the report, there were several provisions within the Act that had to be fulfilled within the first year, but not much progress has been made.

The report said that while the NCPCR has been mandated with monitoring the implementation of the Act, the body lacks the capacity to do justice.

"The overall shortage of teachers is estimated to be 14 lakh and states like Uttar Pradesh have a huge shortfall of over two lakh vacancies, which have not been filled up due to lack of resources," the report said.

Eight states have less than 50 percent teachers who are professionally qualified, it added.

"Many teachers are not aware about the Act. If we want to get rid of archaic practices like corporal punishment, urgent attention must be given to school based training for teachers," said Ambrish Rai, spokesperson of RTE Forum.

The report said that the school management committees (SMCs), with three-quarter representation from the community, are the first line complaint mechanisms under the RTE Act. However, these have not been formed in most states. 

"This leaves parents and children without a visible place to go if their educational rights are violated," the report said.

The Right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into force from April 1, 2010. According to it, the right to education will be accorded the same legal status as the right to life as provided by the Indian Constitution. Every child in the age group of 6-14 years will be provided 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighborhood.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/'Lack_of_political_will_hampering_implementation_of_RTE_Act'_13784/

Government against privatizing education, says Sibal

Bangalore: The government will not allow education to be privatized as institutions have to serve a societal purpose, but it was not against "private participation" in the education sector, union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said on Thursday.

"I think privatization is a very dirty word. We do not believe in privatizing education. Educational institutions have to serve a societal purpose," Sibal told reporters here.

Clarifying that the government was not against private participation in the education sector, Sibal said private participation was different from privatization, which serves private goal.

"I do not mean there should be no private participation in education. It is different from privatization. Private participation must serve public goal," Sibal said on the margins of the 36th annualconvocation of the state-run Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) here.

In this context, Sibal referred to the government's efforts to set right the education system to make sure stakeholders served a societal purpose.

"The ownership of educational institutions should vest in stakeholders, which includes government, private sector, faculty, youth, civil society, leaders who have achieved excellence in their fields and the student community. That is how we view education," Sibal said.

To facilitate a greater participation of the private sector in higher education, especially in professional courses, the minister said the government was changing the regulations of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). 

"We have made the whole system far more transparent and accountable. We want the institutions to go through a self-disclosure process instead of an inspector raj," Sibal asserted.

Referring to the latest national census, which has shown the population at 1.21 billion, an increase of 181 million people in the last decade, Sibal said the government was looking forward to management institutions such as IIM-B and IIM-A (Ahmedabad) to provide solutions to achieve full literacy in this decade.

"I firmly believe we are at the cusp in the next 10 years to achieve full literacy in the country. There will be lot of pressure on educational institutions, more so as transformation of society is taking place. We will need management solutions to very complex problems," Sibal said in the presence of IIM-B chairman Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd.

According to the latest census, literacy in the country has gone up to 74 percent from 64.8 percent during the past decade, with female literacy to 65 percent from 53 percent and male literacy to 82 percent from 75 percent.

Noting that education was becoming multi-disciplinary and therefore management institutions could not function as standalone, Sibal said they have to interact with the government and diverse sectors such as health, education, agriculture and small and medium enterprise (SME).

"You need management solutions at every level. I don't think society has recognized the importance of management and in creating those solutions. We cannot move forward unless you manage things in a holistic and progressive way," Sibal pointed out.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/Government_against_privatizing_education,_says_Sibal_13785/

China scores low in English test

Beijing: Chinese have "poor" English skills despite huge efforts by the government in language training, according to a study.

China was ranked 29th in the English Proficiency Index, behind other Asian countries like Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Test-oriented, memorized learning habits did not give Chinese students the real language skills, education experts said.

The report was based on a free online English test, where two million adults from 44 countries where English is not the native language took part.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/International/China_scores_low_in_English_test_13786/

NCPCR seeks redressal mechanism for RTE law

New Delhi: The absence of a clear grievanceredressal structure for the Right To Education (RTE) law was questioned on Thursday by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

The NCPCR is the apex body that ensures the implementation of the RTE Act in the country. 

It has been a year since the law had been brought to action in India. However, the NCPCR has cited the lethargy on the part of most state governments that have failed to notify key rules for the successful implementation of the RTE.

National RTE Coordinator at the NCPCR Kiran Bhatty said that there was definite tardiness in the implementation of the act. "We have written to the state governments repeatedly and would still keep on writing to them," she said. 

Guidelines for a redressal mechanism for the RTE have also been proposed by the NCPCR to theHuman Resource Development (HRD) ministry. These guidelines are currently being examined by the law ministry. 

According to the RTE Act, the NCPCR, chaired by Magsaysay Award winner Shantha Sinha, is the watchdog body for the implementation of the right to education all over the country. The NCPCR had been given the role with the aim to ensure and the implementation of and independently monitor the law instead of the HRD ministry.

Section 36 of the RTE Act says that the state governments are required to appoint designated local authorities who are empowered to sanction prosecution of school or government officials for conducting screening tests, corporal punishments or running unrecognized schools.

Vinod Raina, a member of the National Advisory Council on the RTE Act has informed that only 13 of the 36 states and union territories have notified about the rules accompanying the Act or notified the authorities.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Today/NCPCR_seeks_redressal_mechanism_for_RTE_law_13787/