Special Report

Unwarranted hyper-sensitivity

The huge hue and cry raised in India alleging institutionalised racism in Australia, following a wave of robbery-driven attacks on Indian students in Melbourne this summer, has provoked wry comment from African, and students from our own north-eastern states who suffer routine discrimination in this country.

For several decades a small minority of liberal publications within the […]

Special Report

Safety tips for foreign students down under

Against the backdrop of multiplying violent robberies being perpetrated on Indian students in Australia, particularly in the city of Melbourne (pop. 3.9 million) which hosts half of the 95,000 students studying in Oz, the government, police and institutional managements have devised a safety code for ethnic minority students. Some of the recommended safety measures include:

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Special Report

Lure of Oz

In 1988 only 55 student visas were issued by the Australian high commission in India. Since then the number of Indian students bound for Australia has spiraled to 27,000 annually (2008). Sensitively priced, quality education in scenic college campuses, a favourable exchange rate, English language instruction, strong emphasis on vocational and professional education, and aggressive […]

Special Report

KAMS Case: Constitutional provisions interpreted

The Karnataka high court in its judgement delivered on July 2 in KAMS vs. State of Karnataka & Ors (Writ Petition No. 14363/1994) struck down the state government’s 1994 language policy compelling primary school children to study in the Kannada medium or the mother tongue in unaided private schools, as unconstitutional. It recorded the following conclusions (verbatim):

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Special Report

Siddiqui Committee on madarsa reform

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, established by an Act of Parliament in 2004 “to provide for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto”, appointed a three member committee headed by Justice (Retd) M.S.A. Siddiqui to make recommendations for the development and upgradation of Muslim education institutions. In May 2007 the committee submitted a proposal […]

Centre scraps MP quota in Kendriya Vidyalaya admissions

Special Report

A template for government-funded education

Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools

In a society where government managed schools are synonymous with ramshackle infrastructure, truant teachers and poor learning outcomes, how do the 979 Central government-funded KVs improve their vital stats year after year? Sudha Passi reports

Saransh Sharma is the ideal Indian student, what most parents would want their child to be. Not […]

Special Report

Ill-advised resistance to sex education

Even as India has emerged as a global flashpoint for housing the world’s largest number of AIDS infected people and a shocking report of the Union government indicates that 53 percent of children are subjected to sexual abuse, several states have banned sex education even in senior school. Summiya Yasmeen reports

Sexual hypocrisy is la vice de l’ Inde. In […]

Special Report

India’s budding home school movement

A nascent home schooling movement is gathering momentum countrywide, a growing minority of disillusioned parents are switching to customised home education for their children instead of sentencing them to overcrowded classrooms in which little learning happens. Summiya Yasmeen reports

Ten-year-old twins Mohini and Mallika Bariya live in the relatively quiet Bangalore suburb of Jayanagar, reportedly Asia’s largest […]

Ahmedabad private schools announce salary cut for teachers

Special Report

Dismaying teacher shortage in Indian academia

A rising tide of teacher discontent and disaffection is swelling at a time when an unprecedented teacher shortage is manifesting across the country. Academic institutions are reporting an alarming shortage of faculty. Summiya Yasmeen reports

Within a society notorious for wasting valuable human resources, September 5 — Teachers Day — marked by desultory celebrations and mealy-mouthed homage to India’s […]