Before Priya Bose (14) hanged herself on March 30 she was just another friendly student of the City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow. But driven to anxiety by poor performance in her final exams, this class VIII student of one of the city’s most highly rated schools, hung herself from the ceiling fan behind locked doors. […]
The recent gabfest at the conference of chief ministers and chief justices held in New Delhi on April 19, highlighted all thats wrong with 21st century Indias legal system which is — as it has been for several decades — on the point of collapse. If it isnt quite dead yet, it is because of […]
Infidel, My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Pocket Books; Rs.440; 353 pp
Whether orthodox mullahs and hardliners like it or not — and one can be sure they dont — the seeds of contemporisation of Islam, arguably the worlds most austere and literally interpreted religion, have been sown. Just as the seeds of reform of […]
In the final year of its three-year term, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has something to cheer about. Several of its recommendations on higher education reform have somewhat belatedly been accepted by New Delhi. Among them: oblique acknowledgement of its plea to establish an independent regulatory authority for higher education by constituting the Prof. Yash […]
Mathematwist, Number Tales from Around the World by T.V. Padma; Illustrations by Proiti Roy; Tulika; Rs.175; 94 pp
In 21st century Indias arid early education landscape where textbook printing contracts are farmed out to unqualified friends and relations of ministers and bureaucrats, and where the concept of enjoyable learning especially in the countrys 1.20 million […]
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) — the largest pan-India school examination board — is considering a proposal to rank its affiliated schools on the basis of their students performance in mathematics and science. The rationale of the move, according to CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly, is to help schools brand themselves better and compete […]
In the recently concluded march 31 fiscal year, the Bangalore-based IT and ITES (IT enabled services) blue chip corporate Wipro Ltd earned a handsome net profit of Rs.3,283 crore on a gross sales revenue of Rs.19,975 crore. Little wonder that Wipros equity share (Rs.2 paid up) is riding high, currently quoted at Rs.458 on the […]
West Bengal chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, rarely publicly eats humble pie. Yet at the 19th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), held at Coimbatore from March 28-April 3, when the subject of ‘education for all came up for discussion, thats what he had to do. At the two-day CPI(M) conclave, Bhattacharjee […]
For the past three years the national knowledge Commission, chaired by the Chicago-based multi-millionaire telecom switching systems pioneer Satyen (‘Sam) Pitroda, has been recommending that the wings of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) should be clipped. For half a century UGC (estb.1956) and for over two […]
Rising disaffection within the medical students community in Maharashtra (pop. 96 million) has aroused fears of a decline in the number of post-secondary students entering the states 13 government medical colleges. During the past one year, medical students have struck work on six occasions causing great inconvenience to the public, as they provide OPD (out […]
Transparency International’s (TI) assessment methodology is flawed. This Geneva-based voluntary organisation which measures the degree of official corruption, i.e bribe taking, scamming, kickbacking etc by government officials in countries around the world, ranks India as the 72nd most corrupt country in the world in a list topped by Nigeria (pop. 141 million) and ahead (i.e […]
Aroused out of its slumber following strident and continuous protests from industry leaders about the poor quality of arts and science graduates churned out by the states 450 arts and science colleges, the Tamil Nadu state government has unveiled a plan to upgrade them. Last month (April) higher education minister K. Ponmudy announced that the […]
Theres a storm in a teacup in Karnataka (pop. 57 million) over the prevalent practice of colleges levying extra tuition fees to coach already enrolled students for all-India competitive exams. According to several news reports in Bangalore-based dailies, privately managed PU (pre-university) colleges in the city are charging their students between Rs.10,000-20,000 to prepare them […]
I read your cover story ‘Blueprint of a supplementary budget for primary education’ (EW April) with avid interest. Dilip Thakore and Prof. A.S. Seetharamu deserve the thanks of the nation for formulating a supplementary budget for revolutionising primary education. In his election-eve Budget 2008-09, finance minister P. Chidambaram was too pre-occupied with sops for the […]
NES College of International Business Studies, Mumbai, promoted by the Mumbai-based National Education Society (NES, estb.1963), has received accreditation from the Association of Business Executives, UK (ABE), enabling the college to offer the latters business management study programmes. The ABE business management certificate, diploma and advanced diploma programmes offered by NES College include business management, […]
Recently during one of EducationWorlds teacher development seminars staged in Hissar, Haryana (yes, we regularly host seminars around the country), a constructive critic as she described herself — may her tribe increase — admonished me for featuring too many gloom and imminent doom lead stories in this publication. While regrettably, gloomy stories — the outcome […]
The Bangalore-based skills assessment major MeritTrack has teamed up with the US-based Cengage Learning to provide English language competence to Indian youth through an online learning program christened e-English for Enhanced Employability. Included in the program package (price: Rs.3,650) are a textbook, online training module and subsequent skill assessment service by MeritTrack.Several studies have pegged […]
Chinese varsities forging aheadAlthough the economic booms of china and India have been fuelled by cheap labour and inexpensive low-end manufacturing, the future of these countries relies on a better-educated workforce. Both countries lack sufficiently educated personnel to meet demand for employment in the expanding and increasingly sophisticated sectors of manufacturing and services.
Universities are […]
British Council, New Delhi hosted a four-day workshop on ‘Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education under the auspices of UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) from April 16-19. The workshop was attended by two British and two Indian representatives from each cluster in the first year of their partnership. The schools division of UKIERI has […]
Of all the factors that influence the personality development of children, family environment and relationships unquestion-ably rank first and foremost. For children around the world, home and hearth is the primary environment from ‘womb to tomb. The influence of parents and siblings makes the greatest impact on the personality development of every child.
Therefore parenting is […]
Procter & Gamble (P&G) in partnership with the Delhi-based Child Rights and You (CRY) has launched the Shiksha 2008 school education programme for underprivileged children. Shiksha, a national consumer movement project, is now in its fourth year.
Promoted under P&Gs corporate social responsibility programme, Shiksha 2008 facilitates consumers to help educate underprivileged children by purchasing […]
The world’s most ambitious education portalIn September 2006 Seattle-based Kal Raman accepted a challenging assignment to design, develop and operationalise an online education supermall. On November 2 last year globalscholar.com offering a rain of products and services became accessible to the global public
On a cold rainy night in December 2005 India born, Seattle-based IT […]
The woodstock school, mussoorie (estb. 1852) staged a function on April 2 to celebrate and felicitate former Woodstock alumnus Tom Alter, for being awarded the Padma Sri by the government of India. The award will be conferred by President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi on May 10. On April 2 the Woodstock community […]
India’s top 10 trekking trailsWith the onset of summer, what better time for hoisting backpacks and disappearing into the wilderness? An avid traveller and trekker, Srinidhi Raghavendra offers a list of the countrys top 10 trekking destinations
For outdoor enthusiasts and free spirits, trekking/hiking through untrodden ways is the ultimate way to explore nature in […]
A budding scientist, environment conscious activist and above all, a crusader against climate change. Thats Jaswanth Madhavan (17), a class XI student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School (Nungambakkam), Chennai, whose innovative ideas and responses to the challenges of climate change and global warming is jetting him around the world.Jaswanths eco-friendly initiatives began […]
Some childhood memories remain embedded in one’s consciousness for a lifetime. One such is of days we used to travel from Mumbai (our city home) to my grandfather’s farm in village Marwa, Uttar Pradesh. Why we had two homes and why our farm and city home were so far apart still confuses me. I was […]
For Krithi Chandar Sundaram (16) a class XII student of the National Public School (Indiranagar), Bangalore, participating in a competition is not all about winning but the learning experience, which she cherishes equally. Nevertheless she was adjudged winner of the first Indian National Brain Bee championship finals staged at the Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences, […]
Great coaches who build great teams, need great leaders. After all coaches are human; they too have their ups and downs, especially when they are criticised, as is inevitable. Therefore in your sports community in which you want your children to thrive and experience the joys of growing up, parents as well as coaches need […]
Showbiz and glamour photography is big time, offering multiplying opportunities. But there are enough openings for those opting for non-glam specialisations as wellWith the indian media scene booming, its field day for professional photographers, who are in great demand. Nows the right time to turn your passion for photography into an exciting, creative career which […]
It’s the biggest issue in the country at this moment. Yet instead of discussing ways and means to restrain spiralling price indices in a calm, rational and constructive way, Parliament has (as usual) been reduced to an unruly brawling arena with opposition members storming the well of the house shouting street-style slogans, preventing reasoned debate […]
Which universities in UK offer a degree in sports education? Im an excellent sportsman and would like to pursue a career in this field. Surinder Singh, Chandigarh
Brunel University, UK offers a number of bachelors programmes in sports. Study its academic curriculum to see if it matches your requirement. Today sports is a multi-million dollar industry […]
10 oldest cities in the world Every city in the world has a story to unfold. The ancient cities have all the more tales engulfed with ... 
SPJIMR launches management programme for women aspiring to return to work On September 1, Mumbai based S P Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), a top ranked school of management ... 
NCRB report: 26% increase in crimes against children over two years Reshma Ravishanker India reported a 26% increase in crime against children over the last two years as per the recently ... 
Image consultants: Societal demand for image consultants With Indian businessmen and society in general having acquired notorious reputation for bad manners and boorishness, its in the national ... 
