Schools

Pic: Abhilash Matlapudi Pic: Abhilash Matlapudi A new school initiative is in the offing in Whitefield. Troubled by huge hikes in school fees, a few Whitefield parents under the name Citizens Gurukul have decided to setup a school. An account of their recent event by founder trustee Abhilash Matlapudi. When we have good intentions and stay committed, everything will fall in place. This was proven once again, during our 1st-ever Symposium event. We got speakers/panelists, venue, volunteers and required support to pull off a public event like this. It was a pleasant Saturday morning where about 50 parents predominantly from Whitefield and even from…

I've been writing code for a while now. I first learned to program at age nine, and can now write an entire app on my own. The thing I've noticed, though, is that a lot of my friends seem to have a bit of a phobia of writing code.  The US may be pushing code in a big way, but in India, computer science still seems to be the realm of precious few. I take computer science in school, and there are only 7 others taking it out of a class of 40. There isn't a single girl in our…

In the third week of February, a horrifying incident of child sexual assault was reported from a playschool belonging to a popular franchise in Bengaluru. In this particular case, the parents of the child reported the incident with the police and the perpetrator was arrested, the playschool was shut down. The main accused in this case was the school supervisor. Meanwhile, the parents of the victim alleged that the school management had also tried to cover up the matter when they were informed about the incident of sexual assault. A case under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)…

The previous three stories in the Right to Education Act series revealed loopholes in the implementation of 25 per cent reservation under RTE - how the schools try to circumvent rules and parents fight to get free education to their wards. The last story in the four-part series reflects what the private unaided schools think about the 25 per cent reservation, and what are the challenges they face in the process. In one of the popular private unaided schools in Bengaluru, a software engineer whose monthly income is above Rs 1 lakh gets a free seat for his child under…

Pic: Nikhil Reddy Ever since the Right to Education Act came into force, a lot of minority educational institutions in Bengaluru have taken shelter under Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, thus seeking exemption from admitting 25 per cent RTE quota students. Article 30 of the Indian Constitution provides constitutional status to the minority institutions and also provides them privileges and immunity, and exempts them from the State Act and Municipal Acts. According to the statistics available with the Minority Education section in the Department of Public Instructions, the number of minority educational institutions that are exempted from RTE this…

Isana Nambiar has always been a great fan of female entrepreneurs, following the stories of many. Her favourite TED talk, “Programming your Mind for Success” by Carrie Green, has been big inspiration for her. With someone as passionate about entrepreneurship as she is, it is no surprise that at age 16, Isana has already started her own initiative and is currently in the process of building HelpEd, an online tool that will connect government schools lacking resources to donors willing to provide for their needs. Isana first came up with the idea in the beginning of summer; “I had a…

It’s the school admission season. While many parents are busy admitting their wards to top schools in the city, there are parents from underprivileged sections who too would be aspiring to admit their kids to private schools. While the sky high fees in private unaided schools was a deterrent for these parents to not apply at such schools in the past, the Right To Education (RTE) Act introduced five years ago came as a ray of hope for many. The mandate for every private school to allocate 25 per cent seats under the RTE Act for children from weaker sections…

Even after five years of introducing the 25 per cent free education quota under the Right to Education Act, many hurdles have ensured that the implementation remains a problem. Continued malpractices observed in the implementation of the Act form the majority of them. During the first three years of implementing 25 per cent quota reservation, the major hurdle in the process was a large number of seats allotted remaining vacant. Officials say this was mainly because, single applicant would get admission in multiple schools and there was no system in place to prevent this from happening as the seat allocation…

It's that time of the year when young parents worry the most about their childrens' school admissions. We would like to work on a story on school fees in Bengaluru. Do help us with your inputs! Please fill the form. You are not obliged to leave your contact, but in case there's something that you want to talk to us about, please leave your contact in the form. Thank you! Related ArticlesDemand high but schools not keen: The story of Right to Education in BengaluruGovt fee guideline draft confuses schools and parents, stirs hornet’s nest

Arun (name changed), a driver by profession, admitted his three-and-half-year-old daughter to a prestigious “international” school at Cox Town in Bengaluru around three years ago. His daughter was lucky enough to get a seat under the 25 per cent quota of the Right to Education Act. The Act intends to provide free education to children from disadvantaged and weaker sections of the society in private unaided schools. The school was located at a distance of half kilometres from Arun’s home and his daughter would walk to school everyday. In fact, the school’s positioning served the purpose of ‘neighbourhood schooling,’ that…