Education milestones of a tumultous decade

The decade 1999-2009, since Education World was promoted (1999) with the mission of “building the pressure of public opinion to make education the No.1 item on the national agenda”, has witnessed the once back-burner subject of education and development of the nation’s abundant human resources, steadily moving towards the centre of the national development debate. In this special 10th Anniversary issue of India’s sole education news and analysis (monthly) magazine, assistant editor Summiya Yasmeen presents a chronological retrospective of landmark education initiatives and developments of the past decade. Victory for English in Tamil Nadu April 20, 2000. The Madras high court quashed a state government order mandating Tamil as the sole medium of instruction from class I-V for all primary schools across the state. The court ruled that the government order violated the fundamental right to education, which includes the right of parents to choose the medium of instruction of their children. ISB comes on stream July, 2001. The Indian School of Business became operational on a 250-acre campus in Hyderabad in the first week of July. Promoted by the CEOs of several private blue-chip corporates in academic collaboration with the Kellogg School of Management, Wharton Business School and the London Business School, ISB is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities. Lok Sabha approves 93rd Amendment November 28, 2001. The Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act 2001, which promises to deliver the dream of universal elementary education for all, was unanimously passed by the Lok Sabha. The Act added Article 21-A to the Constitution to provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years. (EW cover story January 2002) Court bans corporal punishment November 30, 2001. The Delhi high court struck down S.37 (4) (a) of the Delhi School Education Act 1973 and the rules thereunder which sanc-tioned corporal punishment in schools. The impugned section of the Act permitted headmasters to inflict corporal punishment upon school children. Saffronisation of school textbooks October 3, 2002. A new set of social science textbooks, with revised history inputs suspected of advancing the hindutva ideology of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party, was ceremonially released by NCERT in Delhi, with the recommendation that all secondary schools and examination boards should incorporate them into their curriculums. (EW cover story March 2003). Freedom charter for private professional education October 31, 2002. In a historic 318-page elaborately reasoned judgement in TMA Pai & Ors vs. State of Karnataka & Ors, a full strength 11-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the right of religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer education institutions of their choice and in particular, to regulate admissions and determine their fee structures. Moreover the court expanded this right to all citizens. (EW cover story February 2003) Bharat Shiksha Kosh bolt for IITs May, 2003. Union HRD minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi issued a circular to all secondary and higher education institutes funded by the Central government, forbidding them from accepting any funding/donation without prior clearance from the Bharat Shiksha Kosh (BSK), a Central government sponsored trust for the education sector. Shortly…