35,000 new seats in Delhi’s primary schools

September 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Some students of a government-run primary school in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district were made to mop floors and clean the toilet as punishment by a teacher, officials said Thursday. Four students of Class 5 of the Gaurachowki Primary School in Gonda district were Wednesday made to mop floors and clean the toilet, the official added.

August 24th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - In a bid to improve the student-teacher ratio and to fill the vacant posts in Punjab schools, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered officials to immediately start a recruitment drive and employ 10,810 teachers. Punjab government will employ 10,810 new teachers in secondary schools in the state within the next three months.

July 4th, 2009 HYDERABAD - A panel constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government has recommended that private schools in urban areas should not charge more than Rs.24,000 per annum as tuition fee up to Class 5 and Rs.30,000 up to Class 10. The six-member panel was constituted last month following public complaints that several schools effected a steep hike in tuition fees from the academic year 2009-10.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after reinforcing job quota in faculty of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday said the government is "committed" to reserving 25 percent seats in private schools for weaker sections. The minister said this during an interaction with officials of 30 private schools in the national capital, a ministry statement said.

June 30th, 2009 KATHMANDU - After the Manipal Education and Medical Group and global online tutoring company TutorVista came together last year to launch Manipal K-12 Education that aims to provide technology supports to schools, the venture is now poised to enter Nepal's education sector in a big way. Manipal, which already has a collaboration with the government of Nepal since 1994 to run the Manipal College of Medical Sciences and a teaching hospital in Pokhara city, has teamed up with the Chaudhary Group, one of the biggest business houses in Nepal, with diverse interests ranging from construction, hotels and food and beverages, to run schools and high schools in Nepal.

June 28th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Adding another feather to its cap, Punjab has emerged a leading state in the country in providing best infrastructure and facilities to primary and upper primary schools. Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur Sunday said Punjab has surpassed Delhi, which has now shifted to second position as far as the infrastructure index is concerned.

May 25th, 2009 PATNA - The headmasters of four primary schools in Bihar's Darbhanga district were suspended for irregularities in the mid-day meal scheme for schoolchildren, officials said Monday. The headmasters were suspended Saturday after an enquiry found them guilty of corruption.

May 20th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Principals and teachers of around 105 government-run schools in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district will face action for irregularities in the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme, an official said Wednesday. 'In the ongoing surprise inspection we found that the schools were not providing regular lunch to their students under the MDM scheme,' official in-charge of primary education in the district Mahendra Kumar told IANS on phone.

March 18th, 2009 NOIDA/GHAZIABAD - Private schools in the National Capital Region (NCR)- Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad - have withdrawn proposed fee hikes following protests by parents of the students. Schools, including Delhi Public School (DPS) Noida, Kothari International School, Marigold Public School and Rockwood International School, have decided not to hike fees to pay arrears to the teachers, Anup Khanna, the president of Gautam Buddh Nagar Guardians Association, told IANS.

March 6th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Authorities of three government schools in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district will face action for making students prepare lunch under the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, an official said Friday. 'We will take stern action against the staff of three government schools in Banda district, where students prepare the meal,' basic education officer Omkar Rana told IANS on telephone from Banda, some 200 km from Lucknow.

February 8th, 2009 BHOPAL - Single teacher-run primary and middle schools, no headmasters in most schools and, more shocking, senior secondary schools till Class 12 managed by a single teacher - welcome to Madhya Pradesh's education system. According to the latest District Information System for Education (DISE) report, as many as 25 percent schools - one in four - in Madhya Pradesh are managed by only one teacher.

January 9th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Teachers and principals of over 100 government-run primary schools in Uttar Pradesh's Etawah district will face action for irregularities in the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, an official said Saturday. 'These teachers are under scanner for not providing regular lunch to their students under the MDM scheme,' official in-charge of basic education in Etawah Naresh Verma told IANS on phone.

January 3rd, 2009 NOIDA - Government primary and junior high schools in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Noida and Ghaziabad will remain closed till Jan 7 because of dense fog and intense cold, according to official orders Sunday. In Noida, some private schools have decided to remain closed till Jan 11.

January 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Newsreading is to be included in the curriculum of 25,000 government-run schools in Uttar Pradesh to improve the general knowledge and presentation skills of students. 'This new concept has been approved and will be launched in a full-fledged way this month in selected districts in primary and upper primary schools,' state additional basic education director Vinay Kumar Gill told IANS.

January 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Denying that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) proposed to auction land of 60 of its primary schools for construction of malls and hotels, the civic authority Friday said that the allegation was baseless. 'The MCD has no plans to auction or sell its primary school premises to bolster its finances or for any other reason,' chairman of MCD's standing committee Vijender Gupta said.