As many as 1,606 government-run primary schools in Gujarat were functioning with just one teacher, the state government informed the legislative assembly on Monday. In a debate during the Question Hour of the ongoing budget session, state Education Minister Kuber Dindor admitted that the number of schools facing a shortage of teachers has increased in the last two years mainly because of the transfer of educators to places of their choice. While Dindor assured the House that vacant posts in the state-run primary schools would be filled "at the earliest", Congress MLAs took a strong exception and asked the BJP government to specify the timeframe for filling the posts. Responding to a question by Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary, the minister said 1,606 government primary schools in Gujarat were functioning with just one teacher as of December 2023. The state has more than 32,000 government primary schools. He said steps are being taken to ensure that students do not suffer, and these
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said that 85,152 posts of headmasters and assistant teachers are vacant in the state, but taking shiksha mitras and instructors into account, the student-teacher ratio is complete and there is no problem in teaching. "At present, under the Basic Education Department, both shiksha mitra and instructor cooperate in studies," Minister of State for Basic Education (Independent Charge) Sandeep Singh said while answering the questions of Samajwadi Party members Anil Pradhan and Abhay Singh during the Question Hour in the budget session of the legislative assembly. Singh said that in basic education, the number of teachers, including part-time instructors, shiksha mitras and assistant teachers is currently 6,28,915 in the state. "The ratio is complete and there is no problem in teaching," he added. Responding to a supplementary question, Singh said, "1,26,371 new teachers have been appointed by our government since 2017." "In comparison to the ...
Every year spent in school or university may improve life expectancy, while not attending an educational institute could be as bad as smoking or heavy drinking, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health journal. The research identified data from 59 countries and included over 10,000 data points collected from more than 600 published articles. The team, including researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), found that education saves lives regardless of age, sex, location, and social and demographic backgrounds. They found was that the risk of death drops by 2 per cent with every additional year of education. That means those who completed six years of primary school had a lower risk of death by an average of 13 per cent. After graduating from secondary school, the risk of dying was cut by nearly 25 per cent, and 18 years of education lowered the risk by 34 per cent. according to the study. Researchers also compared the effects of educa
For the first time in the history of the state, the revised school textbooks in Kerala will include the preamble to the Constitution of the country. The CPI(M)-led Left Government has decided to incorporate the preamble into textbooks of class 1 to 10 as part of its efforts to instil constitutional values in the minds of children, official sources said here on Wednesday. General Education Minister V Sivankutty, who is also the chairman of the State Curriculum Committee, announced the significant decision here yesterday. The State Curriculum Steering Committee recently approved 173 new textbooks for Classes I, III, V, VII and IX as part of the curriculum reforms implemented after a decade. "It is the first time that the preamble of the Constitution is included and printed at the start of every textbook," Sivankutty said. The minister said the LDF government has made it clear since the beginning that the southern state would pursue reform activities upholding constitutional ...
The court's action came after a petition from the NGO Social Jurist highlighted that the buildings were not being used due to pending dues
The Delhi government has developed an app, called 'DGS Live', through which parents can get a live view of cameras installed in classrooms for about five minutes per class
Internet connectivity in government schools in India improved from 5.5 per cent in 2017-18 to 24.2 per cent in 2021-22, with Bihar, Mizoram, Odisha and Telangana being the only states with fewer than 10 per cent government schools having Internet connectivity. The information was shared was shared by Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi in a written reply to a question asked by the BJP's Dhananjay Bhimrao Mahadik in the Rajya Sabha. According to the Union Ministry of Education, apart from the Union Territories -- Puducherry and Chandigarh, which recorded 100 per cent Internet connectivity in government schools -- Delhi is the only state in the list. Other states with high Internet penetration in government schools are Kerala (94.6 per cent) and Gujarat (94.2 per cent). Rajasthan is the only other state where more than 50 per cent of government schools have Internet connectivity. The lowest in the rung are Bihar (5.9 per cent), Mizoram (6 per cent), Odisha (8.1 per
Delhi schools have been directed to observe a minimum of 220 working days in an academic year, according to a circular from the Directorate of Education (DoE) issued on Monday. "As per section 19 of RTE Act-2009 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, it is mandatory for all the schools running under Directorate of Education to observe the minimum 220 working days in an academic year giving consideration to the notified lists of gazetted/restricted/local holidays for the calendar year (January to December)," the circular stated. It said that prior to the commencement of academic year and before observance of the holidays, the heads of government schools must ensure that 220 working days are completed. "The deputy district education (DDE) officers are also advised to ensure strict compliance of the same before sanctioning restricted/local holidays to any school under their jurisdiction. In addition, un-aided recognised schools would also obtain approval of holida
NITI Aayog has also suggested that states undertake decentralisation of powers to principals, district and block officers for self-improving governance
The Punjab government has appointed 1,378 security guards for all senior secondary government schools, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said on Wednesday. Chairing a programme at a local government school, Bains said these security guards would take care of the safety of students and also ensure they do not leave the school premises during study time. All senior secondary schools having student strength above 500 will have security guards, he said. The minister said these security guards will be deployed at the entry and exit gate of the schools and will ensure that no student leaves premises during school time without the permission of the principal, besides maintaining records of visitors, he said. The minister said the state government has embarked on a special drive to transform the education sector with state-of-the art infrastructure in government schools. He said the government has set aside Rs 250 crore to build boundary walls for all government schools. Likewise, ne
A plea seeking direction to the authorities to investigate the selection of 35 newly-recruited principals of Delhi government schools on the basis of "forged and fabricated documents" has been filed before Delhi High Court. The public interest litigation alleged the 35 candidates somehow managed to maliciously misrepresent themselves and were selected illegally and that the Delhi government's Department of Education miserably failed to scrutinise the requisite documents submitted by them, resulting in their erroneous selections. During the hearing, the counsel for petitioner Navendu Charitable Trust sought time to implead the people against whom allegations have been levelled. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula granted the petitioner's counsel the time sought and listed the matter for further hearing on October 18. The Delhi government was represented through its standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi and lawyer Arun Panwar. The petition all
The Delhi government on Thursday launched a mobile application to enhance the academic experience for students and teachers and empower them to raise school-related concerns, officials said. The DoE Nirikshan app has been designed to empower the students and the teachers to raise school-related concerns and ensure their prompt redress, they said. "The app can be accessed by using student and teacher IDs. It promises to revolutionise the way issues in Delhi government schools are addressed," the Directorate of Education (DoE) said in a statement. "The DoE Nirikshan app serves as a dynamic platform for instant communication, enabling users to submit requests concerning various school-related matters to the administration directly," it added. The DoE further said the app will play a crucial role in disseminating information and streamlining and digitising the inspection of essential attributes such as infrastructure, supplies, midday meals, stationary and uniform-related issues. Spea
The condition of all the children is stable, an official said
"As we are aware that during last few days, the city has faced continuous heavy rainfalls and it might have affected the conditions of government school buildings," stated the order
The whole purpose of reservation of seats for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Disadvantaged Category (CG) will be defeated if seats for them in schools are allowed to go waste on account of neighbourhood criteria, the Delhi High Court has said and ordered a school to admit two students who lived some distance away. It said the seats in these categories are limited while the demand is much higher. Therefore, while allotting seats for admission under the EWS or DG category, it may not be possible for the Directorate of Education (DoE) to follow the criteria of neighbourhood strictly, the court said. This court notes that in the present social milieu, the demand for admission under the EWS/ DG category is much higher as compared to the number of seats that are available for allotment under the EWS/ DG category. "Therefore, if seats in a particular school are available under the EWS/ DG category, then the DOE is required to allot such schools to the applicants who have applied
Around 100 students at a government school in Bihar's Araria district fell sick after consuming a mid-day meal in which a dead snake was found on Saturday
The Himachal Pradesh government on Saturday de-notified 90 government middle, high and senior secondary schools, citing administrative reasons and low enrolment. These include 20 middle schools with less than 15 students, 34 high schools with less than 20 students and 36 senior-secondary schools with less than 25 students, according to a notification issued here. Education Minister Rohit Thakur has maintained that a format would be followed for schools and colleges. Primary schools with less than 10 students, middle schools with less than 15 students, senior secondary schools with less than 25 students and colleges with less than 65 students will be shut down, he said. Earlier, 286 schools (primary and middle) with zero enrolments were de-notified. Opposition BJP leaders have protested the move, saying the Congress government was de-notifying government institutions opened for the welfare of the common people. The ruling party has maintained that hundreds of government institutions
A Bengaluru-based space technology company has unveiled an indigenously designed NavIC chip which can use India's own navigation satellite system to provide positioning services that have applications in civilian and defence sectors. The 12-nanometre chip can be fitted into a mobile phone or any handheld device and can receive signals from the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the Global Positioning System of the US and the GLONASS constellation of Russia. Designed by the IIT-Kharagpur incubated Elena Geo Systems, the chip was on Thursday presented to Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan in the presence of Samir V Kamat, chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. Elena Geo Systems has entered into an agreement with a Taiwan-based chip manufacturer to ensure a steady supply of the NavIC chip. "We directly control the factory. ...
Amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases here, Delhi Education Minister Atishi on Thursday said that the government is reviewing the situation and guidelines for schools will be issued soon. Delhi's single-day caseload addition on Wednesday breached the 1,000-mark for the first time in over seven months with 23.8 per cent positivity rate, according to data shared by the Health department. Addressing a press conference here, Atishi said, "Our government is reviewing the COVID situation and guidelines will be issued to all the schools in this regard very soon." The national capital logged 1,149 fresh cases and one fatality on Wednesday.
The Bihar Cabinet on Monday approved new rules under which the state government will constitute a Commission for recruiting teachers in government schools. It was also decided at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that the government will increase the dearness allowance (DA) of the state employees and pensioners by four per cent. Earlier, the recruitment of teachers was held at panchayat, block and district levels... Under the new rule, the government will appoint teachers through a Commission, S Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat), told reporters after the Cabinet meeting. According to a senior education department official, around 1.5 lakh teachers from primary to senior secondary stages will now be appointed on the basis of the revised guidelines. Around 9,350 upgraded higher secondary schools in the state are facing an acute shortage of teachers. Under the new rule, appointments will not be made on a contractual basis. Those ...