All students are equal. Students who are sportspersons are more equal. A student who is the captain of a cricket team that wins U-19 World Cup is the most equal.
That is the view of Ajay Maken, Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Shukla, Kirti Azad, Arnab Goswami and many others who live in a world that is worse than George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Valson Thampu, principal of St. Stephen’s College, appeared on many channels on 30/8/2012. He faced hostile questioning on Times Now.
What is popularly known as Nobel Prize for Economics is Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. Bank of Sweden established this prize in 1968 and first awarded it in 1969. This prize is announced after Nobel Prizes are announced and given together with prizes for Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Medicine in Stockholm. Sveriges Riksbank Prize is not Nobel Prize.
St. Aloysius’ College is in news for its rule that students should show their faces in class rooms. Students who come wearing burkha have to show their faces. The rule is in prospectus. Some have called it Burkha ban. Muslim clergy is said to be opposed to the rule. St. Aloysius’ College has come to…
Last year during riots in London and other cities of England, many young boys committed crimes. Prime Minister David Cameron said the young boys will face full force of the law. If you are old enough to commit a crime you are old enough to face the law.
On 9/2/2012 a student murdered his Science and Hindi teacher Uma Maheshwari, St. Mary’s Ango-Indian Higher Secondary School, Armenian Street, Madras. He was angry with the teacher for informing his parents about his behaviour and lack of study by her remarks on his school diary.
Rape is forced sex with a female by a male. Sex means vaginal intercourse which means penetration of vagina by the penis. Any other definition that includes other sex crimes under rape dilutes the gravity of rape.
Some countries have broadened the definition of rape to include various sex crimes. In India there is a demand to change the definition of rape to include all sex crimes. That should be avoided. Vaginal intercourse is different from anal or oral intercourse. In vaginal intercourse a female can become pregnant. That does not happen in anal or oral intercourse. Penetration of vagina by any object other than penis is an unnatural sex crime.
Programme for International Standard Assessment (PISA) ratings and Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011 have shown fall in educational standards in many Indian schools. Standard V students are unable to read Standard II books. Similar is the fall in standard in arithmetics. Mostly it is the case of government schools in rural areas. Much has been made of mid-day meal scheme in schools and it is said that the scheme has ensured almost 100% attendance. It is no use if students have mid-day meals but do not gain knowledge.
It is time for admission to colleges. Delhi University introduced common admission form for its colleges and allowed colleges to fix cut-off percentages. Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) fixed 100% as cut-off percentage. Some have criticised it. P. C. Jain, principal of SRCC, defended it. Science students who do not get admission in SRCC can go to IIT or IIM. Best way to do away with stress is to have no marks, no examinations and no evaluations and have lottery to select students.
Some other colleges had cut-off percentages in the range of 95%-99%. Students who do not get admission in the first list may get admission in subsequent lists.
Corporal punishment to students has become a controversial subject. There have been instances of excessive beating by teachers, causing injury and sometimes death. TV channels reported it for a day, some discussed it for a few minutes and everything was forgotten. A boy from La Martiniere in Calcutta died in February. After three and half months the death became controversial.
Some colleges in Bangalore have 50% of seats for boys and 50% of seats for girls. This year girls performed better than boys in school board examinations. As a result cut off marks for girls are higher than for boys. Many girls are upset. Many women say this is discrimination. A girl’s father has filed…
Duruelo Convent School is in news regarding its policy on uniform. Wearing salwars under skirts is forbidden. Coming to school wearing burkhas and taking them off when entering school compound is forbidden. Some parents are not happy about it. Some are even ready to stop sending their girls to school. The principal has the right…