Why this Delhi school keeps winning

Good morning, how are you?" principal Tej Pal Singh asked a student. “I am fine sir. What about you?" They stopped to chat for a few minutes. It’s not something you see on the hierarchy-conscious campuses of our educational institutions, where it’s more likely a student will walk hurriedly by the principal, muttering good morning, her eyes fixed on the floor ahead of her. But at the Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) in Dwarka’s Sector 10, students are encouraged to speak up, both in the classroom and outside. As the Aam Aadmi Party fights for a second term in the Delhi election, it’s worth revisiting the party’s impact on education through the story of this government school.

Implementation of Act still leaves a lot to be desired

When the Right to Education Act was enacted a decade ago, there was no way anyone could have visualised that it would turn out to be a cure worse than the malady. From opening a chapter of discrimination against the general category students to needlessly burdening the private schools with the task of its implementation, almost everything about it could be placed in the realm of unwarranted. To make the matters worse, fraudsters to some extent deprived the real beneficiaries of the advantages of the Act.

Is self-certification as proof of income giving rise to scams?

With the highest per capita ownership of motor vehicles in the country, the city believes in show-off with so many residents discarding the old each time a new model hits the road. However, there is a category of residents, who believe in showing themselves as poor, at least on paper, despite leading a comfortable life. They are the ones seeking admission for their wards under the EWS category.

CBSE can't deny name change: High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that a person can get his name changed in the certificates of secondary and senior secondary school examination, although the CBSE rules permit correction only in case of clerical or typographical errors.

“If the rules do not cater for a particular situation, a constitutional court can always issue directions to fill the void,” Justice Sudhir Mittal of the High Court ruled. The assertion came on a petition filed by Satish Kumar, aka Shrey, against the Central Board of Secondary Education and another respondent.

No-detention policy — A disincentive for everyone

All students are equal, but some are more equal than others as they are promoted to the next class regardless of the result following the no-detention policy introduced through the Right to Education Act for children belonging to economically weaker sections of society. It has apparently proved to be a disincentive, not just for beneficiaries but other students as well.

More than a decade after the chapter on making education a fundamental right was opened through the enactment of the RTE Act, the quality of education has, on the face of it, suffered because of the policy.

18 months on, no sign of state’s school edu policy

The Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government is about to complete three years in power, but its new school education policy remains a work in progress.

The 12-member committee headed by Punjabi University vice-chancellor Professor BS Ghuman constituted by the state government in June 2018 is still to give the blueprint for the new school education policy. The committee comprising renowned academicians and education administrators was given a timeframe of one-and-a-half months by principal secretary, school education department, Krishan Kumar to formulate the policy, but the expert panel has already taken more than 18 months with three extensions.

Unaided schools await their just dues

The Chandigarh Administration, it seems, has flunked in the effective implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009. In the absence of timely reimbursement of expenses incurred on students from economically weaker section (EWS), the schools have been finding it tough to maintain the high standards of education and have virtually been left fending for themselves on the financial front since 2011-12 — the academic session when the 25 per cent reservation began in the city’s unaided schools.

Setting the record straight on the Right to Education

Every year around this time, newspapers are full of how private schools, out of sheer greed, are not implementing the Right To Education Act (RTE) in letter and spirit. Self-styled spokespersons of parent groups make all kinds of allegations about how self-certified Economically Weaker Section (EWS) parents are being harassed by private schools.

It is high time that the record was set right. In 2009, Parliament passed the RTE, making it obligatory for all Unaided Private Schools (UPS) to reserve 25% of seats, (initially at their entry level and subsequently at all levels up to Class 8) for children of “disadvantaged groups” and provide them free education, including all facilities, enjoyed by paying children.