India's downtrodden "untouchables" are to open a temple to a "Goddess of the English language" in honour of Lord Macaulay, an architect of the British Empire. Leaders of India's low-caste Dalits are to celebrate the opening of a temple shaped like a desktop computer to inspire "untouchable" children to improve their prospects in life by learning English. They believe learning English will open up new opportunities for India's 160 million Dalits...

The government will have to invest around Rs 5 lakh crore to achieve its target of increasing the higher education enrolment rate from the current 14 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020, a think tank has estimated. The National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) has prepared a concept paper projecting the expected number of youths to be enrolled in higher and technical education by 2020 and the...

Lancet dismisses criticisms levelled at the “rural MBBS,” saying they bear little credibility The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry might still be awaiting “formal” clearance for its much debated Bachelor of Rural Health Care course that aims to create a cadre of healthcare workers for the rural areas, but the Centre has received global appreciation for “trying to find an innovative solution to a deeply entrenched problem which is not...

Cracking the whip on private tuitions given by school teachers in the capital, the directorate of education (DoE) has prohibited the same in an order passed on September 30. Asking the schools to follow the provisions under Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 ( RTE Act 2009), the DoE has ordered schools to stay away from corporal punishment and abstain from detention and expulsion of students. In...

The United Nations marked World Teachers’ Day today with top officials calling on governments to make up a projected deficit of over 10 million teachers by 2015 and stressing the crucial role teachers play in recovery from natural disasters and conflict. “Without sufficient numbers of well-trained and professionally motivated teachers, we risk falling short of the promise made 10 years ago at the World Education Forum to the world’s children and...