Twice every year, between 1981 and 2000, a helicopter would whirr around the hills of the Western Ghats in Kasargod, a district in north Kerala bordering Karnataka, spraying endosulfan over the cashew plantations on the upper reaches. Children would rush out to take a look at the helicopter and the white spray would settle like mist on their heads and on leaves and shimmer in the sunlight. But that’s also...

Responding to the lack of computer training in Mukteshwar’s schools, Veena Sethi, a retired Delhi University professor, set up two used personal computers in the basement of her home with the aim of bringing the basics of computing to school children. "There were no libraries, no laboratories and no computer classes. In fact, most of the schools in Mukteshwar [which is in the Nainital district of northern Uttarakhand state] had no...

The directorate of education (DoE) has already framed the draft rules for the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in Goa and has forwarded the rules to the state government for its vetting by the law department. Sources in the DoE said that the draft rules, once finalized, will then be forwarded to the state government for its approval and for the...

A Dalit-dominated hamlet in remote area of Uttar Pradesh (UP) is on the radar of top officials of the Mayawati administration nowadays. At the crux of their interest is a new goddess ‘Angrezi Devi’. Construction of a temple consecrated to this goddess of English is in full swing in Jang Bahadur Ganj village of Lakhimpur Kheri district. But tension has already begun to simmer over this unique campaign to popularise English...

The implementation of the Right to Education Act will lead to decongestion of classrooms as it lays down strict teacher-student ratio norms. To ensure this provision is followed, the state government is planning to set up new buildings next to schools in which the teacher to student ratio is high. The new aided schools will be built with funds provided, in large part, by the Centre. A state government official, on condition of anonymity, said,...