Education

On January 13 2019, the President gave his nod and brought into law The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Fourth Amendment) Bill 2019. The Act amends Articles 15 and Article 16 of the Constitution, and adds clauses where the government can make special provisions for economically weaker sections (EWS) of citizens and provide them with reservations up to 10 percent in higher educational institutions including private aided or unaided institutions (other than minority education institutions) as well as in initial appointments in government services. In popular parlance, this is being bandied as 'upper-caste reservation.' Reservations or quotas, the dominant mode of…

Sushil was attending 10th standard at the school in his village, when his parents decided to move to a city. They had found seasonal work in a brick kiln there. Sushil’s only option was to move to the kiln site and work alongside his parents. He had given up hopes of completing high school education, when he realised that other child labourers at the kiln were going to a ‘classroom’ located within the site. This learning centre was set up by Aide et Action, an NGO that works for the education of migrant children. Sushil attended classes there, and later,…

Priti, a Class VII student at an aided school in Bengaluru, hoists a schoolbag that looks like a ton of bricks on her back. She flares up when told that the central government has recommended reduction in the weight of schoolbags. "Oh, really?" she asks, indignantly. "Then why didn't our teacher tell us about it, and why am I carrying so many textbooks, pencil boxes, art material, sports equipment, bottles and boxes?" A cursory examination of her schoolbag reveals the list that she blurted out. There were not just books, but many extraneous materials that did not appear really useful.…

Right To Education (RTE) helpline (1800 4253 4567) was launched recently by the  Social Welfare Department of Karnataka, which allows one to lodge complaints and get information on the Act. The Executive Director of the Child Rights Trust, Vasudeva Sharma, spoke to RadioActive about how the helpline could be used effectively. Vasudeva Sharma explained that the RTE Act had been introduced way back in 2009 in Karnataka, and a lot of calls used to be received by the Child Rights Trust members on their personal numbers seeking clarifications. Even though there were no instructions available regarding RTE at that time,…

Lakshmi works as a domestic help with a few families in Bengaluru. Her daughter during the academic year 2018-2019 had been admitted to LKG in a private school through the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009, section 12(1)(c). The Act promises 25 percent reservation in private unaided schools for weaker sections and disadvantaged groups. Lakshmi chose to avail this choice as she felt that in government schools, children are left to themselves and aren't provided adequate attention. She says that she wants to educate her daughter, and felt private school was the best option. There are several…

Youth Speak Summit 2018, a collaborative initiative of the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai and NalandaWay Foundation, is a two-day conference that will bring together young people from various spheres in one platform to learn, share, and inspire change. The summit will take place December 1-2, 2018 at the Madras Management Association Centre, Anna Salai, Chennai. The summit will comprise curated talks, panel discussions, workshops, contests, and art by some of the most inspiring minds in the country. The sessions will include talks by youth icons, discussions on issues, storytelling by young change-makers, clinics for counseling, panel discussions, human library, workshops, skill sharing sessions, and much…

Can you drop an egg three storeys down without breaking it? Eager young children from schools across the Chennai grappled with this challenge as part of a science camp where they were provided a simple kit with which they could use the elements present to prevent the egg from breaking. Twelve-year old Aniket Tadepalli fashioned a contraption out of cardboard that managed to keep the egg intact. “The egg drop challenge is one of the many activities that we have done as part of camps. It was very exciting because we were not provided any instructions. We had to figure…

"I was nine when the Naxalites killed my father. I love libraries. I want to be a doctor." These were three hard facts of her life that 15-year-old Sumanwati declared in an excited rush of words when we spoke to her. Piecing Sumanwati's confused sentences together builds up a narrative that reflects the lives of almost all students in Education City at Jawanga, Chattisgarh. Sumanwati was nine when she lost her father and was enrolled into Aastha Vidya Mandir, a school for children who have lost either or both parents to Naxalite attacks.  Over the years, she picked herself up, immersed herself…

The recent movie Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shale Kasaragod gives an excellent insight into what’s wrong with the government education system. The infrastructure is under stress, teachers are underpaid, and the quality of learning is dismal. With the Right to Education process in place, admission to private schools is being preferred, resulting in limited demand for state-sponsored education. India may be spending 3% of its gross domestic product on education, but the impact of this expenditure is rarely seen. Karnataka government, over the past decade, has implemented many schemes to improve its schools. Through these schemes, spending on school infrastructure and…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship It is an 8th grade science class. Students are learning the concepts of Force and Pressure. The lesson starts off with activities, involving them in a game —a tug of war or arm wrestling each other. Throughout the lesson, there are several images and videos that demonstrate the concepts. Their homework for the day is to help at home in preparing rotis, which would involve activities such as separating the hardened dough, rolling it etc — all connected to the concepts that they had studied earlier that day. This is…