JNV News: Students visit Vidhan Sabha

 CHANDIGARH: It was an altogether different experience for 415 students of seven Govt Senior Secondary Schools (GSSS) in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab when, on Saturday, they visited Punjab and Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Punjab and Haryana High Court and some other places, about which they had so far read in textbooks and seen on television. 

Said an excited 18-year-old Surinder Singh, class 12 student of GSSS Ferozepur, It was a memorable moment for us when we were there. 

The protocol officer of Punjab and Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Rajan Kumar, addressed the students and introduced them to the functioning of Vidhan Sabha. In Punjab and Haryana High Court, officials of the bar council attended to the students. 

The visit was organized by Awareness Mission Society headed by Ram Dayal of Chandigarh. Other places visited by the students included Rock Garden, Chandigarh Traffic Park-23, Panjab University (PU) and two media institutes. On the second leg of the two-day visit, the students would visit historical gurdwaras, including Machhiwara Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib and Fathegarh Sahib on Sunday. 

The organizer, who is an inspector-rank official with Chandigarh police, said the society organizes one educational tour every year and students of government schools from every district of Punjab are invited. 

The society is also working in the field of free education for poor students across the state and providing special training to needy students for clearing entrance tests for admissions to Navodaya Vidyalayas in Punjab. 

 Source: TOI

JNV News: Youth parliament competition in city

 MYSORE: A two-day national youth parliament competition will be held from Wednesday in the city. The 14th edition of the competition will have students from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in three regions of Pune, Bhopal and Hyderabad, posing questions. Union parliamentary affairs secretary Usha Mathur and under-secretary R C Mohanthy will attend. 

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Mysore is hosting the event. Students of JNV at Gajapathy in Odisha, JNV at Hingoli and Pune and the host school will take part, school principal Siddarame Gowda said.

Among the politicians, MP H Vishwanath and former MP A Siddaraju will be there as members of the jury, along with the secretary. 
 

Education workshop for teachers throws light on unconventional teaching tools

Source: The Hindu
It was a fun filled affair for five-days when teachers turned students attending lectures and trying their hands on various activities. In a skill training workshop conducted by PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal, a constituent of NCERT, in collaboration with Mahatma Montessori Matriculation HSS, Madurai, over 40 teachers from various cities of South India participated and underwent teaching guidance.

“The objective of the workshop was to lend practical experience to ‘Socially Useful Productive Work' (SUPW) teachers on making classes interesting and more resourceful for students,” shared Prof.Saurabh Prakash, from the institute.

During the module, Mahatma School teachers conducted presentations, mock classes and training sessions exhibiting innovative teaching systems they follow. Gaining some basic insights from here, later the SUPW teachers are expected to implement the same in ‘Kendriya Vidyalayas' and ‘Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas'.

“School dropout rate in our country is still very high and only some skill-based training will fetch jobs for the students. Vocational skills apart from text book knowledge are necessary,” added, Mr. Saurabh, who was particularly impressed by some unique interesting teaching tools at Mahatma School, which allows students to apply creativity and inculcates individuality.

Primary section doesn't follow text books except for English, Tamil and Mathematics. Instead of prescribed syllabus, a way of practical knowledge is imparted covering a broader spectrum of subjects.

“Our teachers come up with interesting patterns and syllabus to integrate subjects like science, social studies and English. We link lessons and introduce art and crafts to make even boring sessions interesting, so that students find learning fun,” explained Ms. Vijaya Sundar, Principal of the K.K. Nagar campus.

The school also practices the concept of ‘no bags day' for all classes on Saturdays when the students are exposed to activities ranging from cookery, embroidery, fine arts, craft-from-waste besides discussions, debates, symposiums and presentations. Mushroom and vermin culture and tree clubs are the other activities introduced to develop environmental inclination.

Likewise, dry science subjects and mathematical theories are made lively through animations, figures and pictorial illustrations.

“Teaching is almost like brewing a recipe for the students to relish. We got to learn many such guidelines here and would also implement similar ones in our schools” vowed a teacher from Hyderabad. As rightly said, knowledge is beyond text books and education should equip a person for lifetime rather just for the sake of scores.

Jnv News:HRD seeks law min consensus on RTE relief for Navodaya schools

Source:TOI

NEW DELHI: With the law ministry not in complete agreement with Attorney General (AG) Goolam E Vahanavati and former Chief Justice of India A S Anand about keeping Navodaya Vidyalayas out of the purview of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, HRD minister Kapil Sibal has asked law ministry officials to reconcile their view.

The HRD ministry will now send its query all over again to the law ministry. Justice Anand and AG had given the opinion that two key provisions — no-screening and giving 25% reservation to children from economically weaker section — will not be applicable to 444 Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country.

However, sources said, the law ministry had agreed with AG and Anand at one point, but later gave a different opinion — stating that Navodaya Vidyalayas cannot be excused from the key provisions. The HRD ministry wants unison in legal opinion. The law ministry says that instead of issuing notification that Navodaya Vidyalayas are a separate category, the RTE Act should be amended. But, the HRD ministry feels notification is good enough.

Votaries of RTE exemption to Navodaya Vidyalayas say these schools start from class VI. Also, the institutions — located in all districts — have 75% seats already reserved for rural children. Seats are also reserved for children from SC/ST communities in proportion to their population in the district, but not less than the national average. One-third of the seats are for girl students, and 3% of the seats are for disabled children.

JNV NEWS: HRD allows Navodaya Vidyalaya test

The human resource development ministry has brushed aside objections raised by senior law ministry officials to allow Navodaya Vidyalayas to continue admission tests, using support it has received from the country's top law officer. Armed with a favourable legal opinion from the attorney general(AG), the HRD ministry dismissed concerns raised by law ministry officials at a meeting on Wednesday, government sources have confirmed to HT. 
Top law ministry officials and the AG have expressed divergent opinions on the matter, but the HRD ministry cited the top law officer's opinion, reportedly ratified by law minister M Veerappa Moily, to stick to its view.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Educatio — popularly referred to as the Right to Education (RTE) Act — specifically bars schools from using any method other than random selection to admit students. It also requires schools to admit economically weak students from the neighbourhood to 25% seats.
This clause has left the HRD ministry in a dilemma for months now because the more than 500 Navodaya Vidyalayas it runs admit students through a national entrance test. These schools are aimed at tapping intelligent rural children.
The HRD ministry sought the view of the law ministry, former Chief Justice of India AS Anand and the AG. Both Justice Anand and the AG have said Navodaya Vidyalayas are a separate class of schools that do not need specific exemption under the RTE Act to continue with their admission tests.
Law ministry officials, however, argued that the Act ought to be amended instead of relying on interpretations.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya News: Navodaya schools to get Net

Calcutta Telegraph

New Delhi, Dec. 22: The Navodaya Vidyalayas, located mostly in rural and remote areas in the country, are set to get broadband connectivity soon.

Human resource and development minister Kapil Sibal, who is holding the additional charge of the telecom ministry, has asked BSNL to provide broadband connectivity to the 583 schools, which mainly cater to meritorious rural children.

“The minister had asked BSNL last week to provide broadband connectivity to the Navodaya Vidyalayas. BSNL has started working on the project,” a top official revealed.

The move will help the schools improve their teaching methodology by taking advantage of technology. These schools will be connected to each other through broadband network which will enable them to share lectures and e-learning materials.

The schools can also have their virtual labs by using Internet. Students can do science experiments in their computers at these labs without using chemicals, an official in Navodaya Vidyalya Samiti, the organisation running such schools, said.

Although the schools have computer labs, they do not have access to Internet. About 2.07 lakh students are registered in these schools which are perceived as islands of excellence. The schools have established themselves as among the best with 97 per cent pass out rate in board examinations.

About 74 per cent of the students are from families with annual incomes less than Rs 48,000. Nearly 11 per cent students in these schools are first generation learners of their families.

Unlike the Kendriya Vidyalayas, the Navodayas are located in remote and rural areas. They admit students from Class VI onwards through entrance tests.

The initiative to connect the schools through broadband is aimed at providing a level playing field to students who are mainly from rural backgrounds. These students, unlike their counterparts in private schools in urban locations, remain handicapped in the areas of e-learning despite doing well in studies.

In a similar initiative, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has decided to provide interest-free loans to its nearly 40,000 teachers to purchase laptops. The KVS runs 1,073 schools in the country.

It will provide interest-free loan of Rs 27,000 to each teacher and the loan will be recovered in three years. .

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya News: Navodaya schools exempted from RTE provisions

New Delhi: The 444 Navodaya Vidyalayas all over India have been exempted from the provisions of the Right To Education (RTE) Act.

According to the RTE Act, it is mandatory for all schools to implement two key provisions of the act, which include no screening procedure for admission into schools and giving 25% reservation to children from economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had earlier sought the opinion of former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand. He had said that the Navodaya Vidyalayas as special category schools. The attorney general had also given a similar opinion later.

The law ministry too had agreed with the attorney general's opinion and had suggested that instead of categorizing the Navodaya Vidyalayas as special schools, the RTE Act must be amended.

The HRD ministry, on the contrary, had said that the RTE Act did not require any amendment as Section 2(p) of the act puts Navodaya Vidyalayas in the same category as Kendriya Vidyalayas and Sainik Schools.

There have been three reasons given by the ministry for letting Navodaya schools off the RTE provisions. The Navodaya schools begin only from the 6th standard and not class 1 like other schools. Also, these schools are located in all districts and have 75% seats reserved for children from rural areas.

The seats in Navodaya schools are also reserved for children from SC and ST communities in relation to their population in the district, and not less than the national average. One third of seats at the Navodaya schools are reserved for girl students and 3% students are reserved for disabled children.

The schools also do not have any fee structure for class IX and only Rs.200 is charged per month from classes IX to XII. Navodaya Schools have argued that they do not require having 25% reservation for rural students as they already cater to these students.

Regarding the issue of not holding any screening procedure for admissions , Navodaya schools have asserted that they are special schools that are primarily meant for meritorious students. Admission to Navodaya Schools requires students to give a tough entrance examination conducted by the CBSE. The schools have said that not conducting this test fro admission into the schools would reduce their academic quality.

Navodaya Vidyalayas News:HRD putting process in place ahead of RTE rollout

NEW DELHI: With barely few months left for the Right to Education (RTE) Act to be implemented across the nation, the HRD ministry says it has put most of the system and process in place.

On Saturday, as the ministry engages in a brainstorming session on RTE, sources said the Centre has taken a huge step, pledging Rs 2.31 lakh crore for RTE that will be spent over the next five years. The funding pattern stands changed to 65:35 for five years. Besides, the Sarva Shiksha Abhijan's (SSA) budget has been increased from Rs 15,000 to Rs 19,000 this year. Supplementary plans for states have also been done.

The key issue yet to be decided will be the screening process in residential schools like the government-run Navodaya Vidyalayas and private boarding schools. The defiance of screening rules by the Delhi government is also likely to come up for discussion, sources added.

Lack of funds for recruiting teachers has also been dealt with. The Centre has not only approved hiring of 4.55 lakh teachers out of the 5.08-lakh vacancy, but also agreed to pay for their salaries. There is also a dire need for nearly five lakh teachers, which come under the state governments' domain.

Though only 2.74 lakh classrooms out of 14.25 lakh additional classrooms have been sanctioned, sources explained that it is less because of the 33% ceiling on SSA work.

Centre has decided to pay for two sets of uniforms for girls and children belonging to SC/ST and BPL category. While, states will pay for the uniform of general category boys.

In order to enhance academic support, the government has already sanctioned 1,077 additional Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas.

Many states like Arunachal Pradesh, Oriss, Sikkim, Manipur and Union Territories without legislature like Delhi and Chandigarh have notifed the rules. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka and others have already formulated the draft rules.

The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights have come up in Assam, Arunachal, Bihar, Delhi, Sikkim, J&K, MP, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Rajasthan. Many states have also issued child right orders, stating that there will be no expulsion and detention in class.

 

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya News>> CCRP fact finding team on JNV student death case

Imphal, December 06 2010: A fact finding team comprising members of the Coalition on Children's Right to Protection (CCRP) Manipur and Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACRT) led by CCRP Core Working Group member AK Sanaton today started investigation into the suicide incident of a student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Umathel in Thoubal district.

Seventeen year old Ch Briton, a student of the JNV Umathel, committed suicide on November 29 allegedly after he was scolded by the teachers on the charge of sleeping together with a girl student lodging in the hostel of the same school.

Taking serious note on the suicide of the boy, the fact finding team of the CCRP Core Working Group today started investigating into the incident to find out the truth behind the student committing suicide.

The team recorded revelation made by the families of the victim student and the girl who was charged of sleeping together with the deceased boy, their close friends in the school, officers of the police station concerned, principal and teachers of the school as well as representatives of the Parents' Association during the visit.

During an interaction with, Additional SP Thoubal, Th Shyamsunder said that police registered an UD (Unnatural Death) case and investigating into the case.

Police has so far taken statements of the principal, teachers and girl students of the school and also examining the post mortem report of the dead body. If any suspect of outside influence in the death of the student, police will convert the UD case into an FIR case. He also informed that Thoubal DC has already ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of the student. Kakching SDC has been entrusted to conduct the inquiry.

Convener of the Manipur Alliance for Child Rights (MACR), Keisham Pradipkumar who was part of the fact finding team observed that while imparting education to the students, teachers should not give physical and mental violence to them.

Teachers and school managements are seemed to forget this at certain instances.

Intel announces winners of the 7th ‘Technology in Education’ awards

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Intel, in association with the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), today announced the winners of the 7th ‘Technology in Education’ awards for the effective integration of technology in teaching and learning processes in Karnataka. Three schools, 15 teachers, 15 student groups, and five Getting Started Courses (GSCs)/Block Resource Persons (BRPs) were honored for their use of technology in education and the integration of innovative teaching methods to promote 21st century skills and enhance student learning.

Dr. V. S. Acharya, Karnataka’s minister for higher education, statistics and planning; Sri Ashok Kumar Manoli, the principal secretary of Karnataka’s Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology Department; and Professor H. S. Jamadagni, of the Indian Institute of Science’s Centre for Electronics Design and Technology, were present at the ceremony as the chief guest and guests of honor, respectively, to congratulate the award winners. 

A total of 460 entries were received for the competition from government schools across Karnataka, with a large number of teachers and students from rural areas participating in the contest. After the final evaluation, which was jointly conducted by DSERT and the Intel® Teach Program, winners were awarded cash prizes along with a joint citation from the Intel® Teach Program, DSERT and SSA Karnataka.
“It gives me immense pleasure to congratulate the ‘Technology in Education’ winners who have excelled in promoting and implementing technology in teaching and learning skills to prosper in the 21st century. The association of the Karnataka government and the Intel® Education Initiative has played a pivotal role in motivating students and teachers on effective use of technology. We are confident that this will inspire all the other teachers, students and schools in the state, ensuring sustained growth both individually and professionally,” said Dr. Acharya.

“We are proud to be associated with the government of Karnataka in recognizing the exemplary work being done by teachers and students in the field of education in Karnataka,” said Dr. Praveen Vishakantaiah, the president of Intel India. “This contest has proven to be a successful tool for recognizing and honoring the deserving students who have showcased the extraordinary work done to effectively integrate technology in their learning.”

This year, the Intel® Teach Program is supporting ‘Technology in Education’ contests in the states of Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand and a combined contest for the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Sanghatan (NVS) government school chains to recognize schools, teachers and students from computerized schools and pre-service institutions who have excelled in promoting technology-supported, project-based learning.

Source:IIFL

Inquiry demanded into the death of JNV student

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 Imphal, December 01 2010: Tension was reported from Thoubal Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Umathel over the death of a student.

The student was found commiting suicide by hanging himself on November 29 .

A procession carrying the dead body of the student identified as Chingangbam Brington (17) son of Ibohal of Kakching Makha Leikai Naudam Pareng was carried out at Umathel today along with allegations that teachers of the vidyalaya were responsible for the death of the student.

Students of the vidyalaya, family, relatives and villagers took part in the procession which demanded an inquiry into the death of the student in the hostel inside the vidyalaya and an ex-gratia payment to the family of the student.

Slogans like "Teachers responsible for Brington's death", "Transfer unworthy teachers", "Punish culprit teachers", we condemn torture to Brington," were displayed during the procession.

A meeting that followed the procession formed a JAC against the death of Ch Brington and submitted a memorandum to the Thoubal DC.

The memorandum demanded an enquiry into the death and an ex-gratia payment to the victim's family.

The DC has given assurance that he would respond offer seeking prior permission to conduct a magisterial inquiry as per the law that governs the vidyalaya, JAC members said.

Source: E-Pao

student of Jawarhar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Umathel was found hung to death at Kakching

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A student of Jawarhar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Umathel was found hung to death at Kakching this morning.

According to police report, 17-year old Chingakham Brajaton Singh son of Ibohal was found hung to death with a plastic rope from a tree atop a hillock at Thumkhongmang Ingkhol located along Kakching-Phunal Road at around 6.30 am today.

He was a resident of Kakching Makha Leikai Naorem Pareng.

A suicide note has been recovered from his possession.

In the suicide note, Brajaton expressed regret that he would not be able to look after the well-being of his parents in this life and prayed for doing so in the next life.

The body has been handed over to the family members after post-mortem examination at JNIMS today.






Source:epao

JNV bags second rank in Youth Parliament

KATHLAL: Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Kathlal, bagged the first position at 14th Youth Parliament 2010, NVS Pune region. The second place went to JNV, Banaskantha. JNV, Kathlal hosted the annual event, organized jointly by government of India and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), New Delhi, to train the students to excel in their political endeavours. Four JNVs from Gujarat - Kodinar, Banaskantha, Bharuch and Kathalal - had qualified for the event on Thursday.

About 200 students from the four schools took part in the parliament, where they acted as speaker, prime minister, leader of the opposition, deputy speaker besides ministers for home, finance, defense, HRD and agriculture among others.

Kathlal MLA Kanubhai Dabhi inaugurated the event, which had Matar MLA Devu Sinh Chauhan as the chief guest. School principal JN Bhonsale welcomed the guests.









Source: Times of India

 

JNV could not create luster in 45th Youth Parliament award

The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning, Sh. V.Nanayanasamy rewarded the winners of the 45th Youth Parliament Competition 2010-11 for the Schools under the Directorate of Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and New Delhi and Municipal Council. Sh. Nanayanasamy congratulated the students of the nine Delhi schools for their brilliant performance and whole hearted participation in the competition.

N.C.Jindal Public School, Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi was declared the winner of the Pandit Moti Lal Nehru Running Parliamentary Shield, having stood first in the 45th Youth Parliamentary Competition Trophy. Trophy for the best education district in the competition was awarded to the West ‘A’ Education District, Directorate of Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Trophy for standing first among new entrant schools was awarded to Govt. Sarvodaya Co-Ed Vidyalaya, B-4, Paschim Vihar,New Delhi. Besides, Trophies were also awarded to eight other schools for their meritorious performance in the competition. The award winning schools are: Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Pooth Kalan, Delhi; Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, A-Block, Vikas Puri, New Delhi; Govt. Sarvodaya Co-Ed Vidyalaya, B-4, Pashchim Vihar; Sarvodya Kanya vidyalaya, B-Block, Janak Puri, Delhi; Navyug School, Peshwa road, New Delhi; Vidya Bhawan Mahavidyala, Sr. Sec. Shool, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi; Aadharshila Vidyapeeth School, Pitampura and Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Ramesh Nagar, New Delhi.

From a humble beginning in 1966 when the first Competition was organised in 16 schools of the Delhi Administration, by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the Youth Parliament Scheme now covers 1200 schools in NCT of Delhi, 1,200 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 600 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and 300 Universities/Colleges throughout the country.

Source: PIB

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair:8 little geniuses to chip in Intel ISEF 2011

MUMBAI, INDIA: When preparing papers of the 'Investigation of Pesticidal property of Areca Catechu Plant' Athira M Nair from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Mandya had not thought about the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. But what surprised her is that she is among the 8 others who got selected to represent India at the prestigious ISEF -2011 (Intel International Science and Engineering Fair ) which will be held at Los Angeles, California on May 8-13, 2011.

There were about 87 projects presented by the students from class five to class twelve, reveals the creative mind and talents of the young innovators of India at the IRIS. Selected topics for ISEF varied from botany to maths, environmental science to chemistry, zoology and engineering, said a press release.

Students from standard 5-12 demonstrated their creativity and research-based thinking through their science and engineering projects. The national winners will represent India at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles, California.

Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science, is an initiation by Intel to promote bright young minds to nurture science and scientific research and to come together.

“With every edition of IRIS, we see more and more innovative entries which are a strong indication of the rich talent pool that exists in our country,” said Praveen Vishakantaiah, president, Intel India.

“I take this opportunity to congratulate ‘the little geniuses’ who made their mark in science and innovation at IRIS 2010. I strongly feel that this is a very useful mechanism to tap the imaginative science talent of young minds,” said Gurudas Kamat, Minister of State for Communications and IT, Government of India.

HRD issued guidelines about screening of children at the time of admission

NEW DELHI: After months of debating the issue and seeking the law ministry's opinion, the HRD ministry on Tuesday finally issued guidelines about screening of children at the time of admission under the Right to Education Act.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, "We have taken the law ministry's clearance to issue the guidelines on screening. The RTE Act will be amended later. Had we gone in for an amendment on screening now admissions the next academic year would have suffered."
Making it clear that no school would be allowed to do profiling of students based on their parents' education, the new guidelines allow schools to have categorization based on a "rationale and just" basis. But within the categories schools will not be allowed to conduct interviews either of students or parents. Admission will be done entirely on a random basis through draw of lots.
Schools have also been told that their objective and categories should be put in the public domain and be included in the school prospectus. For instance, there can be rational categories for alumni and siblings. At the same time, minority educational institutions like madarsas and vedic pathsalas have been left out of the provisions of RTE Act. However, institutions run by minority groups that fall under the definition of school as provided in the RTE Act will have to comply with screening as well as other provisions of the legislation.
The categorization will be limited to 75% of children while 25% reservation to children of economically weaker sections will be given without any screening and on the basis of random selection through draw of lots. The HRD ministry is likely to issue another set of guidelines about screening in residential schools later. Many top residential schools have been asking the ministry for guidelines before next year's admission process starts. The HRD ministry-run Navodaya Vidyalayas, which too are residential, have been opposed to the provision of no-screening and giving 25% admission to underprivileged children in the neighbourhood on the ground that they cater to poor children.

Source: Times Of India

Nothing for children in their budgets

Even as the middle class and politicians are gloating over US President Barack Obama’s remark that “India has emerged”, it comes as a rude shock that one of the fastest growing economies spends only 4.45 paise, on an average, per child every year. This is not a mere conjecture, but the finding of an analysis of the Union Budget and Budgets of six State Governments conducted over a five-year period. According to the ‘Budget for Children’ analysis, conducted by Haq: Centre for Child Rights, a non-profit organisation, of every Rs 100 allocated in the Union Budget, education programmes get Rs 2.90, while health and development programmes receive less than one rupee each — this after the Budget allocation for children went up by 40 per cent from Rs 21,033 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 29,518 crore in 2006-07 under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Integrated Child Development Scheme programmes. What is startling to note is that while the Budget allocation has increased, in actual spending, children’s share has come down to 4.12 paise per child — clearly bringing to the fore a wide chasm that exists between policy planning and capacity utilisation in India.

A pertinent question that could be asked is why do children get a raw deal. Guided by reapolitik, one would say because children do not constitute vote-banks. However, in reality the problem lies in the fact that there is a growing gap between public spending and its intended beneficieries. A case in point is the reaction of the Planning Commission to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s announcement regarding the opening of 6,000 Navodaya schools. The Planning Commission decided that 3,500 schools would be in the public sector and 2,500 in the private sector. It is common knowledge that education in the private sector has emerged as a profitable business with little room for philanthropy and hence the 2,500 schools would hardly serve the purpose envisaged in the Right to Education Act. Ideally, providing easy access to quality school education and healthcare should be a responsibility of the Union and State Governments, but the unobliging attitude of a section of politicians and bureaucrats, in effect, reduces the scope of the benefit. Sure, investing in children would augur well for a nation sprinting away to economic prosperity because they are the social capital. Lack of investment in social capital would result in negative outcomes such as early school drop-out, substance abuse, poor labour market entry, and crime and violence, which in turn would lead to substantial economic, social and political costs. In fact, in Latin America and the Caribbean, negative youth behaviours reduce economic growth by up to two per cent annually. If the Government wants to gloss over such facts, it would do so at the country’s peril. Definitely, children demand more commitment from policy-makers, in case the Government wants a stable, vibrant India.

Tamil Nadu government’s anti-Hindi standing had whipped out The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas(JNVs)in the state

 Source: Express Buzz
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government’s anti-Hindi standing had whipped out The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas(JNVs)in the state, thereby denying high quality free education to the rural students.Despite several requests from the Union government, the state government is opposed to opening of these schools, because Hindi is a compulsory subject and it is against the policy of Tamil Nadu government!A few school principals of JNVs of southern states, who spoke to Express on Saturday, said the state government’s (irrespective of DMK or AIADMK) fear over the imposition of Hindi through these “modern Schools’’ are unwarranted. “It’s a misnomer. Even though the JNVs follow the three-language system, in which English is the medium of instruction, mother tongue as second language and a third language as an additional language, it is not compulsory that Hindi should be taken up at the 10th standard,’’ P Ravi, JNV principal of Shimoga, Karanataka, said.“Hindi will be taught till the 10th standard as an additional language. If a student wishes, he can take the CBSE board examination on the subject also. But the results (fail or pass) achieved will not in any way affect his final results, ’’ Anasuya, JNV principal of Karaikal, revealed.“Likewise, in Hindi-speaking states, students can take any of the national languages as an additional language,’’Ravi informed.He said the Union government is spending Rs 2 crore per school per year and the majority of students benefited are from rural areas. “The State’s students are deprived of getting benefited from the high quality education and Central government is keen to start JNVs in the state also.”R Srinivasan, Assistant Commissioner, JNV, Hyderabad, said the political parties of Tamil Nadu should show the will to allow to set up JNVs in the state instead of blindly opposing it.He pointed out to the example of Kerala, which initially opposed the setting up of the schools, but the political leaders, after learning the advantages allowed the schools to start functioning there.Srinivasan said the JNV schools, which follows a transparent reservation policy, are highly beneficial to students of rural areas.The principals were unanimous in saying that “political” will is what is needed for the entry of JNVs in the state. Educationist SS Rajagopalan pointed out that it is high time for the Tamil Nadu government to bring in the JNVs to the state.“Earlier, the government had opposed idea because they were against the three language formula, which had made Hindi compulsory. But today, most of the schools in the state, especially the metric schools, are promoting the same concept. So, there is no reason for the government to oppose the JNVs (in the fear of three-language formula).”The principals, who hail from Tamil Nadu and worked in various JNV schools, including some in the Hindi-speaking states, are in Chennai city to organise the conduct of Regional Cultural Integration Meet and Art Exhibition being held at Kamarajar Arangam on Monday and Tuesday. They justified the holding of the meet in TN, which did not have a single JNV, by saying that it was part of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samithi’s efforts to promote national integration.

PSUs urged to share 2% of profit to boost education

The government wants large public sector companies to share the burden of boosting expenditure on education.
The human resource development (HRD) ministry has written to India’s largest public sector units (PSUs), proposing that they part with a portion of their annual profit to raise the standard of school education, particularly in rural areas and urban slums.
“Initially, we have written to top 100 PSUs, including leading government banks, for giving nearly 2% of their profit for improving school education as part of their social responsibility,” a ministry official said. “We are in consultation with private industry lobbies and will soon write to private companies on this.”
Another HRD official said the ministry was hopeful the companies would cooperate. “Diverting a small portion of the substantial profit towards school education would help in achieving the objective of providing affordable yet quality schooling to children of rural areas and urban slums...”
Both officials asked not to be named.
Total net profit of all PSUs in 2007-08 was Rs.90,000 crore, according to the HRD ministry. India’s top 500 companies earned a net profit of Rs.250,000 in the same year.
The Congress-led Union government plans to boost public expenditure on education from around 4% of the gross domestic product (GDP) today to 6% in the next few years, according to the HRD ministry.
Around 237 million students are currently pursuing school education in India. But quality of schooling and high dropout rates are major worries. Of every 100 students that enter class I, more than 55 drop out by the time they reach class X.
Currently, the cost of setting up a quality school is Rs.3 crore, but this may increase to Rs.5 crore if better facilities are provided, according to HRD ministry estimates.
Companies that accept the government’s proposal will be asked to fund the setting up of a school as well as its recurring cost for a decade, or a total of Rs.15 crore. In return, the school may be named after the company and around 10% of its seats may be reserved for children of the company’s employees.
“While up to 10% can go as discretionary quota, the remaining seats will be filled by the government,” said the second official cited above.
Having schools named after them will serve as publicity for the companies.
The companies can also play an active role in the management and evaluation of the schools they finance. If they don’t want to, the government will hand over the task to the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, which runs Central Schools, and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, another HRD ministry-run schooling body. After 10 years, the company can either continue running the school or hand it over to the government.
U.D. Choubey, director general of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, an umbrella body of PSUs, said PSUs should contribute to school education as a social responsibility.
“They are (already) doing various activities, including those in the education sector,” he said. “HRD ministry should enter into specific agreements with individual PSUs for this.”

Ideas win awards at IIM-A

 Source: Times Of India
AHMEDABAD: Many out-of-the-box ideas by school students, including a crutch with shock absorber by Archana Konwar (Class VII), a young girl from Dhemaji in Assam; a shoe with mini vacuum cleaner by T Chris Ananth (Class I) from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu; and a system to prevent car drivers from using mobile phones while driving by Divyam Gupta (Class X) from Bulandshahr in UP were displayed on the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Monday.

These prototypes were winners at IGNITE 10, which is a yearly national competition for students up to class XII based on technological ideas and innovations organized by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) in partnership with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Navodaya Vidyala Samiti, various state education boards, and Society for Research and Initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), and Everonn Education Limited.

The former president of the country APJ Abdul Kalam handed over the awards to the winning students on Monday. Professor at IIM-A and executive vice chairperson at NIF Anil K Gupta said, "While NIF has helped in making the prototypes of the ideas of these students selected as winners, it has also filed for patents of these cases in the names of the students, and handed over the patent draft with application number to them."