-The Hindu Association’s decision is in protest against lack of clarity in RTE implementation As many as 1,800 schools are likely to remain closed from Monday as the Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA) has decided to go ahead with its weeklong bandh. Despite a dialogue scheduled for Monday with the State government, the association has taken the decision as a mark of protest against the lack of clarity in the implementation of...

-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....

'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 Hindu THE SUNDAY STORY The property and real estate sections of free advertisement-only newspapers offer the best insight. Most advertisements titled ‘for vegetarians only’ were from areas such as Jayanagar, Basavangudi and Malleshwaram.   In the last 30 years, his firm has helped thousands of people find properties of their choice. He is one of the biggest names in the highly competitive real estate industry of Bangalore. Fardeen Ahmed (name changed)...

Four-year-old Shubham Pal did not shed a tear on his first day to school. He was too busy admiring the surroundings, examining other children wearing the same uniform and polished shoes and carrying attractive water bottles. His maternal uncle, however, had misty eyes. “I never imagined that my nephew would study in an English-medium school,” he told DNA. Shubham secured admission in Vidya Bhavan school, Goregaon, under the 25% quota for the...