The state government of Orissa (pop.42 million) is all set to construct 1,480 new secondary schools and transform 344 high schools into model schools under the Central government’s Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) scheme. Announcing this in Bhuba-neswar on August 29 at the first meeting of the governing council of RMSA, chief minister Naveen Patnaik informed the media that “709 new secondary schools will be built in the first phase under RMSA”.
Of the 709 first phase new schools, construction of 300 is likely to be completed by the end of October for which a provision of Rs.1,128.49 crore has been made in fiscal 2011-12. The schools will be located within 5-km radius of all habitations. Meanwhile, the state education ministry has already recruited 20,000 primary and 3,467 secondary teachers this year.
Haryana
National law varsity initiative
Speaking at a meeting of the Haryana State Higher Education Council convened in Chandigarh on August 11, chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said a national law university will be established soon in the state. “The national law university will be sited in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonepat,” he said.
According to Hooda, the university will play an important role in evolving and imparting comprehensive legal education at all levels. “Moreover, it will conduct advanced studies and promote research in all branches of law,” he said.
At the meeting of the council, it was also decided to set up an inter-university consortium, “which will facilitate contacts between state universities, provide a forum for discussion on a wide range of academic issues and maintain high academic standards”.
Madhya Pradesh
Teacher recruitment drive
To meet the state government’s obligations under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 Madhya Pradesh (pop.73 million) will recruit an additional 95,599 teachers this fiscal year. This decision was taken on August 24 by the state government’s cabinet at a meeting in Bhopal chaired by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The decision will impose a burden of Rs.742.57 crore on the exchequer, of which a major share will be borne by the Centre, according to government sources in Bhopal.
Of the 95,599 teaching posts sanctioned, 31,599 will be assistant teachers; 6,383 primary school head-masters; 26,026 teachers, 5,547 middle school headmasters; 13,022 part-time instructors for health and physical education and 13,022 part-time instructors in arts education.
The state’s Professional Examination Board will recruit the teachers through an open examination. Until the process is completed, guest teachers will be appointed against these sanctioned posts. The cabinet also took a decision to establish 100-bed girls’ hostels in 201 backward blocks. Class IX-XII girl students will be eligible to reside in these hostels.
Uttar Pradesh
RTE Act contradiction protest
Describing the Central government’s assurance of exempting Muslim madrassa schools from the ambit of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 “as misleading”, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has expressed intent to continue its campaign against inclusion of religious schools within the Act. “The govern-ment recently gave a statement that madrassas and other religious insti-tutions will not be covered under the RTE Act which is misleading,” member of AIMPLB, Zafaryab Jilani, told media personnel in Lucknow on August 15.
According to Jilani, while some provisions of the RTE Act exempt religious minority schools, other sections include minority institutions within their purview. “This is completely contradictory,” said Jilani, who alleged that while the Centre is claiming that the RTE Act exempts madrassa schools, notices of closure are being received by madrassas, to comply with the provisions of the Act. “Under the Act, it is mandatory for all educational institutions to have six rooms, a playground and library, but the majority of madrassas are not financially sound to make such arrangements,” he said.
West Bengal
First English-medium municipal school
A free English-medium primary school was inaugurated for the first time by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) at Park Circus, Kolkata on August 5 by city mayor Sovon Chatterjee. Claiming that KMC is the first civic body in India to promote English-medium primary schools, Chatterjee said: “English is an international language and children need to learn the language. It is our responsibility to impart education in English to students.”
Thus far, KMC had adhered to the policy of the CPM-led Left Front government, which was ousted from office after 34 years of uninterrupted rule in May, of promoting vernacular language — Bengali, Urdu, Hindi and Oriya — primaries. According to Chatterjee, KMC will promote six more English-medium primary schools in other wards of Kolkata this year.
Arunachal Pradesh
Model degree colleges plan
In line with New Delhi’s policy to establish at least one college in each district of the country, the Arunachal Pradesh government is all set to promote six model degree colleges in educationally backward districts of the state (pop. 1 million). Addressing a group of media personnel in Itanagar on August 9, the state’s education minister Bosiram Siram said a high level-team led by higher and technical education director Dr. Joram Begi, will soon tour the state to finalise sites of the proposed colleges.
According to Begi, the Central government hiked its higher education budget by 30 percent in 2011-12 to provide better higher education oppor-tunities to the country’s youth. Accordingly the University Grants Commission approved six model degree colleges for Arunachal Pradesh including one at Seppa in East Kameng district, allocating up to Rs.8 crore for develo-ping basic infrastructure in each college.