With a battle already brewing between central and state governments over the share of financial liabilities to implement the much-debated Right to Education (RTE) Act, activists fear that such a tussle would be a deadly blow to the law itself. While Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal has strictly asked all the states to mobilise funds to implement the Act, most of the state governments, including Karnataka have expressed their...

The Karnataka government has made it clear that the ball is in the Centre's court to ensure implementation of Right to Education (RTE). At a conference on RTE organized by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS) on Tuesday, primary and secondary education minister Visweshwara Hegde Kageri said: "Unless the Centre releases its share of funds, it will be difficult to implement RTE." The government has received 1,700...

A help-desk-cum-counselling system is on its way, to help children deal with various emotional issues. All of us feel the blues on certain days. It could be due to various reasons. A fight with your sibling, scoldings from our parents or poor performance in an exam. Sometimes it could be emotional issues of a more serious nature that could even affect our performance at school. Children often find it difficult to face...

The Millennium Development declaration was a visionary document, which sought partnership between rich and poor nations to make globalisation a force for good. Its signatories agreed to explicit goals on a specific timeline. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set ambitious targets for reducing hunger, poverty, infant and maternal mortality, for reversing the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and giving children basic education by 2015. These also included gender equality,...

Vigilance officers probing misappropriation of over Rs 2 crore from funds meant to build schools in Bokaro district today revealed how a schoolteacher siphoned off money and kept his opponents at bay by threatening them with punishment postings in Naxalite-hit areas. DSPs Narendra Singh, Jayant Kumar, Dhaneshwar Ram and inspectors Shashi Bhushan and Tej Narain, who arrived here from Ranchi two days ago following a high court censure over the tardy...