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Education

MCD schools yet to get books

Saturday, 11 August 2012 05:19 administrator
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The Times of India   11.08.2012

MCD schools yet to get books

NEW DELHI: Students in MCD schools are yet to get all their books. When Firoz Ansari enquired at his son's corporation school at Pushp Vihar Sector I, he was told, "Sarkari kaam hai, time to lagta hai (It's government work, it'll take time)." His son, who is in Class IV, has received only two textbooks for Hindi and English.

"Books for every other subject, including maths, are yet to come," said Firoz, a tailor. "Even notebooks are not here. Nobody has got them."

Though schools opened on July 9, students are still going without the necessities. An exasperated Firoz wrote to the All India Parents' Association's president and advocate, Ashok Aggarwal, informing him of the situation.

Satish Upadhyaya, chairman, education committee, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, does concede that there's been delay in delivery of textbooks but says that by the time the committee last met — about 15 days ago — 80-85% of schools had already received textbooks. "But it is possible that textbooks of a few subjects still haven't reached. And notebooks aren't there yet because the tender was delayed," he said. 

 

Last Updated on Saturday, 11 August 2012 05:20
 

Civic panel defers proposal on sops for plot owners

Friday, 10 August 2012 11:17 administrator
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The Indian Express    10.08.2012

Civic panel defers proposal on sops for plot owners

The civic body’s improvement committee once again deferred a proposal to give incentives to owners of private plots reserved for civic amenities.

At present, owners of private plots reserved for schools are allowed to build a private school on the plot and in turn reserve 15 per cent of the total seats in the school for municipal school students.

The civic administration has now proposed that of the total area of the reserved plot, the private owners can be allowed to develop a private school in 50 per cent of the area in lieu of building and handing over a municipal school in the rest 50 per cent of the reserved plot.In turn, the private owners will be granted the FSI prevailing for the structure, said officials.

Congress corporator and improvement committee member Mohsin Haider said, “The proposal is only meant to pave the way for private player entry in the civic education space. The private owners might build a municipal school in the same premises as private school. Slowly when the BMC will fail to efficiently run its own school, it will be handed over to private parties.”

Samajwadi Party’s Ashraf Azmi said, “The proposal is an eye-wash. No real benefit will result from this except the private parties getting easier entry to build bigger schools in reserved plots.”

Officials claim that the new proposal would mean better infrastructure and increased facilities for the children. Under the earlier norm although the private players would promise 15 per cent seats in private schools, the municipal school children could not afford the school fees due to which the seats would lie vacant.

“We are bringing this change in the policy to follow the recommendations made by the Right to Education (RTE) act. As per the stipulated classroom and students’ ratio, we need 580 more classrooms. Hence we need the change in policy as civic body does not have enough infrastructures to build schools,” said Milin Sawant, DMC, Improvements Committee.

Improvement Committee chairman and BJP corporator Ram Barot said the proposal would be brought up for discussion again after relevant data and other details are provided to all committee members.

Last Updated on Friday, 10 August 2012 11:20
 

'39% out-of-school children are from construction sites, illegal dwellings'

Monday, 06 August 2012 10:16 administrator
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The Times of India   06.08.2012

'39% out-of-school children are from construction sites, illegal dwellings'

PUNE: City-based NGO Door Step School's own survey has found 2,680 out-of-school children in the 6-8 age bracket in the city. The NGO's drive is part of its campaign to enroll all 6-7-year-old children in std I of municipal schools.

The survey combed all 76 civic panels in the city and covered 716 sites. It found that 39% of the out-of-school children were from small construction sites and unauthorised dwellings. The study also mapped 41 PMC and six Zilla Parishad schools close to these to assess the capacity of these schools to admit them. It found that of the 41 PMC schools, 40% had potential capacity shortfall (based on 2011-12 enrolment figures and survey data).
 
Transport assessment of 458 sites proved that transport to school was required at 82% sites and for 84% children. ajani Paranjpe, founder president, Door Step School, said, "The campaign is called Every Child Counts. It is a citizens' initiative to enroll every 6-8 year old child in standard 1 of municipal schools. The Right to Education Act directs children to be put in the age-appropriate class, which means that a ten-year-old will have to be put in std V irrespective of not having been in school before that. Hence, the child will have to put in extra efforts and cover all that he/she has missed. Therefore, it is better to enroll these 6-7 year olds in schools now."

"The survey is by no means complete and we have probably covered just 40% of sites in PMC limits. A large number of volunteers are required to continue the work and ensure maximum number of 6-7 yr old children are enrolled this year," said Paranjpe.

"We have admitted as many as 602 children in various schools as part of the campaign. However, transport is a problem for most. Thus of the 602 enrolled, 202 have been provided transport or escort. About 192 go to school walking (82) or by school arranged transport (77) or by PMT bus ( 31) or by transport arranged by parents (2). However, a total of 208 children of the total enrolled are not attending schools due to lack of transport. Capacity shortfall is probably not seen at present, because though children are enrolled, they cannot reach schools," she said. Every Child Counts is a citizens' campaign initiated by the Door Step School in partnership with NGOs Swadhar, Childline and Tara Mobile Creche.
Last Updated on Monday, 06 August 2012 12:06
 
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