Evolve consensus on education reforms: BJP tells government

October 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal has said that setting up of a Central Madarsa Board to oversee Muslim education would be made only after a consensus. After his meeting with Muslim MPs here on Saturday, Sibal said: "There were three kinds of opinions that has emerged during course of discussion.

September 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - The central government's proposed reforms in education will lead to the closure of state-run schools, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said Saturday, demanding a nationwide debate on the proposed changes in the country's education system. "Kapil Sibal seems very active after getting the human resource development ministry in this (second United Progressive Alliance-UPA) government.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Centre has called upon States for support and partnership to ensure educational reforms in the country. Addressing the inaugural session of the 56th Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) meeting in the national capital on Monday, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal underlined expansion, inclusion and excellence as the three underlying principles for educational reforms.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - From the current academic year, the tens of thousands of students studying in Class 10 need not burn the midnight oil or get stressed over the board exams -- the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 examination has been made optional. Making this announcement here late Monday evening, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters: "The CBSE Class 10 exams are optional from the 2009-10 academic year." I have said this earlier too," Sibal said after the 56th meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) here, attended by education ministers and officials from states.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said the government was considering allowing new autonomous colleges to be set up independent of universities but with stringent quality parameters. Addressing a meeting of principal secretaries and secretaries of higher education from various states here, Sibal said: "The government is thinking in terms of allowing the setting up of autonomous colleges." Elaborating on his idea, Sibal told IANS: "Right now, there is no institution that starts as an autonomous college.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday said the government is considering setting up autonomous colleges independent of universities. Addressing a meeting of principal secretaries and secretaries of higher education from various states here, Sibal said: "The government is thinking in terms of allowing the setting up of autonomous colleges." The minister's day-long interaction with the officials was his first initiative to evolve a consensus of the states for reforms in the education sector.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Government is working for a national consensus on judicial reforms, and within a couple of months the judicial reforms will be implemented, Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily said.

June 27th, 2009 AGARTALA - The Left Front-ruled states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura will not adopt the educational reforms outlined by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, a senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader said here Saturday. "In the name of educational reforms, the UPA government has been trying to privatise and centralise the education system," a CPI-M central committee member told IANS, on condition of anonymity.

June 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The UPA Government's plans to bring educational reforms drew flak from Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday which charged the Government of not taking States into confidence in the matter despite education falling in the concurrent list.enior BJP leader and former Union Human Resource Minister in the National Democratic Alliance Government, Murli Manohar Joshi, blamed the new HRD minister Kapil Sibal for not consulting the State Governments on the subject matter. "The HRD Minister is well-versed with law.

June 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal's Left Front government Thursday criticised the educational reforms outlined by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, dubbing them as efforts aimed at "absolute centralisation" and "privatisation" of the education system. State Secondary Education Minister Partha Dey said having a single board exam in standard 12 across the country will make "the entire thing absolutely centralised".

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With an aim to reform the examination system and de-traumatise the education, the government is planning to make the Class 10 exams "optional", Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said Thursday. We will reform the examination system and Class 10 examination will be optional, Sibal told reporters here while outlining his 100-day plans for the education sector.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday unveiled a slew of legislative, policy and administrative initiatives for the education sector during the first 100 days of the government. Some of the major moves are as follows: Legal * To enact the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education bill.

June 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Friday became the first state to compile and release a blueprint on implementation of the National Knowledge Commission's recommendations for educational reforms. "The Delhi government has taken the lead in compiling a blueprint on implementation of NKC recommendations and is the first state to release the blueprint," said commission chairman Sam Pitroda, while releasing the document at the Delhi legislative assembly.

March 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India has to initiate 'structural reforms' in the educational system if it wants to reap the benefits of its 'demographic dividend', National Knowledge Commission (NKC) Chairman Sam Pitroda said here Thursday. The demographic dividend denotes a rise in economic growth due to an increasing share of working people in population.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Cutting across the ideological divide, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Wednesday supported broadcasters against proposed measures to control the electronic media in emergency situations and asked the government to evolve a consensus. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said 'no hasty steps' should be taken for media regulation and suggested 'a common approach' before any step is taken in this direction.