Urban News

Source : The Hindu Date : 20.06.2009

Coimbatore Corporation to focus on hygiene in schools

K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE: Apart from focussing on improving the quality of education, the Coimbatore Corporation has drawn up measures to ensure health and hygiene among the students in its schools.

Teaching personal hygiene and clean toilet habits and also conducting periodical dental, eye and general health camps are among the many measures the Corporation is planning to carry out from this academic year.

The main focus is on all the 45 primary schools where the approach of teaching them while young is to be adopted.

Besides, 12 middle schools that have primary sections will also be covered.

“Three urban health nurses are to be posted in each of these schools to monitor the children and teach them clean habits,” says Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra.

“The health nurses are a good resource not being used properly. This programme will use their potential,” he says.

“They will provide health and basic hygiene education to the students.”

Orientation for the nurses began on Thursday with sessions on accessing information through computers.

The Corporation will conduct basic health check-up camps in each of these schools to identify children with general health problems.

Specific problems will be identified through eye and dental camps. Mobile dental clinics may carry out check-up and scaling.

All these constitute primary health care for students in their schools, the Commissioner explains.

The schools will also have user-friendly toilets and the children will be taught how to use these.

The Commissioner points out that most of the children come from very poor families.

They need to be told of the consequences of open defecation and urination.

Large images of bacteria and viruses will be displayed in the schools in order to warn the children of the risks from unclean habits.

“We need to tell them about some basic things relating to healthy food and practices,” the Commissioner says.

All the Corporation schools will have dining halls and plates will be provided to students.

Source : The Hindu Date : 18.06.2009

Notice served on government-aided schools violating rules

Staff Reporter

ERODE: Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam Girls Higher Secondary School, Erode, St. Aloysius Girls Higher Secondary School, Dharapuram, Sengunthar Higher Secondary School, Erode, and Carmel Higher Secondary School, Kangayam, are in the dock for violating Government rules on fee collection.

Education Department, Erode, following complaints from parents and members of the public sent on inspection on May 28 and June 5 a senior officer to Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam Girls Higher Secondary School.

Following the officers report, the Chief Education Officer has issued show-cause notice to the schools, asking for a reply in 15 days time.

The show-cause notice asks the Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam school management to explain why the Department should not initiate action for collecting fee, special fee, etc. against Government rules, which instruct that the Government-aided institutions shall collect only Rs. 500 from English medium students, Rs. 200 for teaching computer science and Parent-Teacher Association subscription Rs. 25.

Based on records the School management sent to the Education Department, it has come to light that the Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam management has collected Rs. 27.95 lakh from Plus-One and Plus-Two students in the 2008-09 academic year and Rs. 26.11 lakh from the students for the 2009-2010 academic year.

In the show-cause notice, the Education Department has also asked the school management to explain denying Plus-One admission to its Standard X students.

“When the Government rules unambiguously say that aided institutions shall not deny admission on any grounds, how is that you deny admission.”

The notice also asks the School to explain poor maintenance of records, particularly those related to admission and transfer certificate. These apart, the Education Department has also found the Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam on the wrong side of law for fudging caste details