-The Deccan Chronicle Following the age old practice of trying to circumvent the law, schools which did not enjoy a minority status, have begun vying for it to avoid admitting poor students under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Sensing trouble, the state government has come up with a strategy of its own to defeat them at their own game. Much to the horror of the institutions concerned, it announced after...

-The Indian Express In 2000, when Sutia village of West Bengal was virtually ruled by alleged rapists, a young schoolteacher stood up to them, starting a movement that helped villagers overcome their fear. Villagers say the gangsters, primarily extortionists, had punished a number of reluctant donors by gang-raping the women of their homes, often in front of the rest of the family. The fear this created had stamped out any hopes of...

-The Deccan Herald School children may now get exposure to the basics of the Right to Information Act with the National Council for Educational Research Training (NCERT) examining a suggestion for inclusion of the landmark law in the school curriculum. The suggestion has been made by the Department of Personnel and Training which is a nodal agency for the matters relating to implementation of the RTI Act.“We are discussing it. The basics...

'No child shall be subjected to physical punishment and mental harassment', says clause 17, Chapter IV of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act. During a visit last week to a government school in JC Nagar, a group of 20 bare-footed children were seen practising 'attention' and 'stand at ease'. The Kannada medium students were intimidated not so much by the English commands as the trainer brandishing...

-The Times of India   Higher education in India should not perpetuate inequality of opportunity It's admission time again. Charming images of 'freshers' entering the campus and glossy advertisements of the universities we had never heard before hide the harsh reality of educational mortality from school to higher education. Elaborate coverage of rising cutoffs and entrance tests draw our attention to individual merit and luck. We tend to forget the overwhelming role of...