Education

PMC science junior colleges from August 1

Tuesday, 30 July 2013 00:00 administrator

The Times of India 30.07.2013

PMC science junior colleges from August 1

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is set to start its junior colleges for science stream in the city from August 1. Admission process for the colleges has already started.

According to a statement issued by senior Congress corporator Aba Bagul, the authorities have selected the Rajiv Gandhi Academy of e-learning at Shivdarshan and the Nanasaheb Parulekar Vidyalaya in Vishrantwadi for setting up the junior colleges.

"These junior colleges will not only focus on the syllabus of the class XI and class XII, but will also prepare the students for the engineering and medical entrance exams along with other competitive exams," Bagul said in the statement.

The initiative is a result of a 10-year agreement signed with the Pace Institute, Mumbai. According to the statement, there are future plans to upgrade these junior colleges to full-fledged colleges.

The junior colleges will admit 300 students out of which 150 students will receive free education. Selection of the students, who will receive free education, will be done by the PMC where 30% of the 150 seats are reserved for students from the PMC-run schools and the remaining 20% is reserved for candidates from economically weak backgrounds.

These centres will also enrol students of standard IX and class X where they will be given special classes with focus on strengthening their understanding of various concepts related to physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics.

Civic body to buy textbooks for students of standard IX, X

Friday, 12 July 2013 11:57 administrator

The Times of India 12.07.2013

Civic body to buy textbooks for students of standard IX, X

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation standing committee on Thursday gave its consent to purchase textbooks for students of class IX and X of the PMC-run schools.

It has been over three weeks since the new academic year started, but students of these two classes are yet to receive their textbooks. TOI had reported about the non-availability of the textbooks on Wednesday.

As many as 5,000 students from these schools are awaiting nearly 62,000 textbooks. The books for Urdu medium schools, semi-English medium schools and Marathi medium schools are yet to arrive. Textbooks for language subjects, science and social sciences are also yet to be procured.

The proposal had been pending before the standing committee since mid-June. The proposal could not be passed as the meeting was adjourned. When the civic officials were asked about the deadline, they had said the books would reach the students in a week's time.

The administration has decided to buy the books directly from publishers. "There will be no tender system for procurement of these books. A provision in the rules allows the civic administration to buy textbooks directly from publishers without inviting any tender," said standing committee chief Vishal Tambe while speaking to reporters after the meeting.

He said the PMC will approach the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research (Balbharati) to get the books. This will reduce the time period for procurement. Schools in the city opened for the new academic year on June 17. The PMC runs 320 schools in the city, which includes Marathi, English and Urdu medium schools. More than 85,000 students are studying in these schools.

PMC’s autonomous education board dissolved

Friday, 05 July 2013 11:08 administrator

The Indian Express 05.07.2013

PMC’s autonomous education board dissolved

Bringing an end to the autonomous working of the civic education body, the state government has dissolved the PMC education board with immediate effect and given powers to the local civic authority to constitute a committee as per its requirement and in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to local civic body.

"The government decision was awaited. Now, the existing 15-member education board stands dissolved and members should vacate their office. Now, the corporators should decide on either appointing a separate committee or entrusting the responsibility to women and child welfare committee," said municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak.

The PMC education board was formed in 1950 and has over 1 lakh students in 319 civic schools governed by it. Controversy has dogged the board continuously over alleged corruption in purchase of school uniform and books. It also faced criticism over poor quality of education in civic schools.

As per the ordinance to repeal the existing Act, the decision to dissolve the board has been taken to ensure uniformity in the primary education system and strict implementation of the provisions under the Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.

All properties of the board, movable and immovable, shall be deemed to be transferred to local authority. Similarly, all debts, liabilities and obligations incurred by the school education board will be discharged by the local civic authority. All employees serving under the education board would be transferred to the local authority and salaries and existing terms and conditions of service would continue until duly modified by local authority.

The set up of the officers conferred with duties under the repealed Act would continue unless altered by the state government. The local authority concerned would prepare the budget for the schools run by it in accordance with the provisions of the law applicable. The powers on superintendence, inspection and control in respect of the schools run by the municipal corporation shall be with the municipal commissioner concerned. The establishment of schools, syllabus, examination, administration and all related matter would be subject to provision of the Right to Education Act.

BMC to study impact of SRA schemes on children's education

Wednesday, 03 July 2013 12:09 administrator

The Indian Express 03.07.2013

BMC to study impact of SRA schemes on children's education

In a bid to check the high drop out rate in civic schools, BMC is planning to study the impact of increasing slum redevelopment schemes (SRA) on children's education.

"We are planning to conduct a study to gauge the impact of slum redevelopment schemes on children's education and their progress," said Manoj Kotak, BJP corporator and education committee chairman.

"Due to SRA schemes, children who have shifted to different residential areas are unable to go to their previous school and are forced to study in schools near the transit camps," said Kotak. According to him, this crucial issue is contributing to the increasing number of school drop-outs.

Corporator from Chembur East Vitthal Kharatmol said, "Currently a large number of slum-dwellers have been shifted to other locations because of development work such as road widening, construction of flyovers and implementation of SRA schemes. When this occurs, the number of school drop-outs increase."

According to NGO Praja Foundation's white paper on the "status of municipal education in Mumbai", the drop-out rate has risen from four per cent in 2010-2011 to seven per cent in 2011-2012. The report also states that less than a decade ago, the municipal education system used to cater to over 7.5 lakh students, but now attracts less than 4.5 lakh students.

A senior education department official said, "If one looks at civic schools near the Mankhurd-Kurla belt, they are filled beyond capacity as many PAP transit camps are situated in these suburbs. There is a dire need to improve and increase school infrastructure in those areas," he said.

With civic schools reopening for the new academic year last month, the civic administration has also planned a range of other measures to ensure low drop-out rates. These include the need for semi- English schools, school buses and free bus passes for children who have to walk long distances, curtailing the misuse of schools not fully occupied and have been given to NGOs and private schools to use, monitoring activities of government aided private schools and exposure visits for public school teachers to private schools.

NMC distributes textbooks before schools open

Wednesday, 26 June 2013 12:24 administrator

The Times of India 26.06.2013

NMC distributes textbooks before schools open

NAGPUR: For the first time in years, Nagpur Municipal Corporation claimed to have distributed the uniforms and textbooks to as many as 40,011 students before the schools reopen on June 26. Interestingly, this year, mayor Anil Sole, deputy mayor SandipJadhav, corporators and senior officials will welcome the students at different on Wednesday morning. Mayor Anil Sole will be at Priyadarshani School in Telangkhedi.

Standing committee chairman Avinash Thakre said there were 182 NMC schools, which include 80 Marathi medium, 67 Hindi and 35 Urdu medium schools having 1063 teachers. He claimed this year NMC had distributed new uniforms among the children before the end of last academic session. "Now, as a gesture the NMC is planning to provide woollen clothes to students," said additional municipal commissioner Hemant Pawar.

Many non-government organizations have expressed their wish to donate school stationery including notebooks to children in NMC schools. BJP corporator Chetna Tank will be donating registers (notebooks) to students. The NMC will also provide notebooks.

Pawar also claimed that this year the civic body schools were expecting increase in enrolment by 3,000 to 4,000 students. Three English medium schools run by the civic body are expecting an increase from the existing 1,500, said Thakre. Pawar said NMC was planning to adopt that Mumbai's virtual classroom model for educating poor children. A meeting for this will be held soon, he added.

More Articles...