Andhra HC judgment redefines the complex relationship between religion, caste and reservations The recent judgment of the Andhra Pradesh high court that sets aside a sub-Quota of 4.5 per cent for “socially and educationally backward classes of citizens belonging to minorities” within the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs reminds us of the contested notion of backwardness in the Indian context. Highlighting serious concerns regarding the ways in which social backwardness...

Schools in the city will have to admit 25% students from the economically weak section before June 10 and start advertising the available seats by May 31. Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, the state government has issued notifications to all schools, except minority unaided ones, to start advertising the 25% seats in their schools by May 31. The Supreme Court order in its April 12...

Political parties across the spectrum get into a tangle over an innocuous cartoon in a school textbook THE textbooks of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are in the news again. This time, it is not history but political science textbooks that managed to get almost all Members of Parliament on their feet on an emotive issue and for reasons that defied logic. One day before the 60th...

-Express News Service Hyderabad, New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh High Court today quashed the 4.5 per cent sub-Quota for minorities carved by the Centre out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Madan Lokur and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar set aside the sub-Quota while observing that the government’s decision was based on religious grounds and not any other consideration. The verdict may affect admissions that...

-The Hindu The organising secretary of the All-India Forum for Right to Education, D. Ramesh Patnaik, has expressed fears that the much-debated legislation that promises universal education might end up facilitating greater commercialisation of education. Speaking at a seminar here on Friday, organised by Karnataka Janashakti, he cited several provisions in the Right to Education (RTE) Act — such as paying for seats under Quota in private schools rather than focusing on...