The Madras High Court has asked the State government to direct district educational authorities to take action against school authorities which start institutions without any affiliation or recognition. Justice K. Venkataraman, who made the observation, pulled up the Educational authorities in Nagapattinam district for not taking action against the Assembly of Jesus Christ Public School, a minority institution, which had been functioning from 2007 without recognition from the State government...

KODAKARAI (KRISHNAGIRI): Awareness programmes and action against the perpetrators have not been able to put an end to child marriage in Kodakarai, a village situated on a hill in Denkanikottai taluk. “Girl students are prevented from going to school on attaining puberty and marriage is conducted. This is our tradition,” says Rudrappa, village elder. “We couldn’t give education to girls due to various factors. Girl students can study up to Std....

In an effort to unburden children, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has laid down stringent weight norms for school bags carried by students. KVS has asked its schools to maintain the lowest school bag weight of less than two kg for students in Classes 1 and 2 with the highest bag weight, six kg, allowed for those studying in Classes 8 to 12. KVS has directed the principals of its schools...

The government has decided to simplify the process of issuing disability certificates through a slew of steps that would among other things relieve disadvantaged people in rural areas of the trouble of making long, “cumbersome” trips. The social justice ministry has decided to let doctors at primary health centres issue disability certificates to those with visible handicaps such as blindness, amputations and paralysis of limbs. At present, a person with disabilities has...

The performance of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which will form the core of the Right to Education Act, has been satisfactory in terms of ainfrastructure though a lot needs to be done as far as quality improvement — teachers’ appointment, their in-service training etc — is concerned. In what could further boost the flagship programme, sources said, the Finance Commission has made a provision of more than Rs 20,000 crore for...