Parents protest ‘forcible’ hair-cutting of students

October 5th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - More than 10,000 students at the Panjab University here got an insurance cover of Rs.200,000 at a petty premium of Rs.50 per year after the varsity signed an agreement with a private insurance company, an official said Monday. As per the agreement, every student will pay an annual premium of Rs.50 and the insurance will cover the hospitalisation charges, accidental risks, among others.

September 14th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Two teachers of a private school in Uttar Pradesh forcibly cut the hair of four Class 5 students after catching them bunking classes, an official said Monday. The teachers cut the hair of four students of Spring Field School in Manjhanpur town of Kaushambhi district, about 300-km from state capital Lucknow, Saturday.

September 3rd, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) will sponsor five Sikhs to carry out research at the prestigious Cambridge University. However, the five will be required to maintain their "Sikh identity" - refraining from cutting their hair or trimming their beards, among other things - during the period of their study.

July 28th, 2009 RANCHI - Around 30 students were forced to stand outside their school in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand even as their examination was underway Tuesday because their parents had failed to pay the monthly fees, an official said. The students of Holy Cross school were forced to leave the exam room as their parents had not paid the school fees for the month of July.

July 8th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Australian authorities will counsel Indian students on the "dos and don'ts" to be kept in mind while pursuing higher studies Down Under following the spate of attacks on students there, Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy announced Wednesday. McCarthy assured the Andhra Pradesh government that his country would take all steps to protect Indian students.

June 16th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - At least 46 Indian students have fled Australia following a rise in the number of violent attacks against the community in the past month and many others are being asked by their worried parents to return home, the editor of a Melbourne-based magazine said Tuesday. "Many students are being pressurised by their parents to return to India.

June 4th, 2009 GANDHINAGAR - Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has suggested that Australian High Commission officials in New Delhi should talk to the worried parents to reassure the safety of their wards in that country in the wake of alleged racist attacks on Indian students there. In a letter addressed to External Affairs Minister S.M.

June 3rd, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Practising racial tolerance and treating foreign students to some good old Punjabi hospitality - that's how the students of Panjab University (PU) are setting an example amid reports of alleged racist attacks on Indians in Australia. Nearly a dozen students from countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, Canada, Iran and Nepal participated in the lunch Tuesday that was organised by Students' Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), a students' political party.

June 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The last of the nine open day sessions organised by Delhi University Wednesday to counsel students and parents about the admission procedures saw an overwhelming number of university aspirants inquiring about cutoffs, officials said. The counselling programme of the final open day was held at the Acharya Narendra Dev College in the university's south Delhi campus.

June 2nd, 2009 PATIALA - Worried parents of students studying in Australia Tuesday held a march here to protest against a series of racist attacks on Indian students in that country and demanded a delegation be sent to get full information. Leaders of all major political parties including the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Akali Dal and representatives of various social organisations also participated in the march and accompanied the parents as they submitted the memorandum to Divisional Commissioner (Patiala Range) J.S.

May 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Distressed about the school fee hike and the government's inaction in the matter, parents in the national capital sold vegetables and polished shoes as a mark of their protest Saturday. 'What else can we do? Where do we get money for our children's school fee?' read a placard which hung around a parent's neck as he, along with scores of others who are a part of the Delhi Parents Council, took to the roads of Delhi's busy Chandni Chowk area.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A signature campaign demanding ouster of the principal of the elite Modern School in Vasant Vihar was launched Monday, as the institute reopened after a two-day closure following protests by students and parents over the death of Class 12 student Akkriti Bhatia. 'The school opened on routine time at 7.40 a.m.

April 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Parents and students of state-run as well as private schools Sunday evening protested outside the official residence of Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna the poor quality education of state-run schools and arbitrary fee hike by private schools. A gathering of nearly 800 people started their protest outside Khanna's house around 5 p.m.

April 14th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Panjab University (PU) has decided to provide all its students insurance cover of Rs. 200,000 from the next academic session.

February 17th, 2009 KOLKATA - Angry parents surrounded a school in West Bengal Wednesday and threatened to shut it down after the headmistress forcibly gave eight students a hair cut, the police said. The incident took place at Gopalnath Girls School of Durgapur town in Burdwan district, about 160 km from here.