-DNA Blind People’s Association (BPA) on Friday organised an awareness programme on Right to Education (RTE) for physically and mentally-challenged people. The programme involved 25 district coordinators of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, parents of the differently-abled children and a few teachers, who discussed about lack of awareness about RTE at grassroot level. The event consisted of various activities which discussed about admissions and special needs of differently-abled children. It highlighted problems faced by...

-The Times of India AJMER: Information under Right to Education Act from each school will now reveal which caste and religion are deprived of qualitative education in the state. Thegovernment has asked every block to send information on 25% free admissions in private schools stating caste and religion of the child. The elementary education department is now collecting information from every private school for implementing 25% seats to students of deprived and...

A cure for India’s health care ills is within reach provided there is political will In most developed — and many developing — countries today, a 12-year school education and universal health coverage (UHC) are the two primary responsibilities of the state. India has failed miserably on both counts. Let us look at some of the problems of medical and health care: • Fifty years ago, when there was no commercialisation of...

Universities should not have to bow to research institutes, writes Debashis Gangopadhyay. Basic Sciences versus Applied Sciences Undermining humanities studies in schools will lead to a large number of science graduates in the market. This is a boon for multinational companies as profits will escalate — the cost of labour being lower. However, the danger to profits persist from another aspect. Students who study science out of their love for a subject are...

-The Hindu The debate over the cartoons used in NCERT textbooks as aids to learning have thrown up a range of issues. The discussion has crystallised around a set of oppositions: motivated political correctness of our elected representatives vs. the necessity of preemptory parliamentary intervention on educational material appropriate for schools; institutional autonomy vs. political responsibility of a state presiding over a diverse and fraught society; the hubris of ‘experts’ vs....