Reliance on CSR, philandhropic funds 'wouldn't help' raise educational standards

By A Representative
Addressing media in Delhi, Ambarish Rai, national convener of the Right to Education (RTE) Forum, commenting on the draft New Education Policy (NEP), has regretted “poor implementation of the RTE Act, 2009 despite nearly 10 years of its enforcement.” He said, public investment on education has been going down, and should immediately be “reversed” to at least 6% of GDP.
Welcoming the draft NEP, he said, inclusion of 3-18 years in the RTE Act “has been our long-standing demand”, but expressed disappointment over “increasing privatisation of education”, even as objecting to sharp reliance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds and philanthropic institutions.
Prof Muchkund Dubey, former chief secretary and president, Council for Social Development, said, while “elementary education is now a fundamental right”, increasing reliance of volunteers through programmes like Remedial Instructional Aids Programme (RIAP) and National Tutoring Programme (NTP) “will lead to informalisation of education.” He added, there should be reliance on trained qualified teachers as enshrined in the RTE Act, 2009.
Shatrughan Prasad Singh, Ex MP, general secretary, Bihar Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh and All India Secondary Teachers’ Federation, said the government should ensure equitable and qualitative education for all children, adding, oosening of RTE Act norms will “further widen the gaps between the haves and have-nots.
Rampal Singh, president, All India Primary Teachers’ Association, said that nearly 11 lakh teachers’ posts were lying vacant in the country and these “need to filled up”, adding, “There is no mention of the Common School System in the entire policy document.”

Sumitra Mishra of the Alliance from Right to Early Childhood Development saod that the policy document talks about learning crisis “but fails to realise that this is because of systemic failure and not the failure of children.”

The media conference was organized by RTE Forum, a civil rights organization.

The Nazia Elahi Khan controversy and the normalisation of hate

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan The registration of two FIRs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region against BJP Minority Morcha leader and social media influencer Nazia Elahi Khan for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad is not merely another isolated controversy. It is a disturbing reminder of how hate speech and communal provocation have become increasingly normalised in contemporary India.

Congress leader Gohil "misinformed" about the OBC caste status of Modi, contend senior Gujarat academics

Shaktisinh Gohil By A Representative Did senior Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil display his poor understanding of the caste system in Gujarat when he declared that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi does not belong to the other backward class (OBC) but to an upper caste? At least two top senior experts, known for their proficiency in sociology and history of Gujarat, have wondered “how could Gohil go so wrong” on Modi’s caste status. Gohil, who all-India Congress spokesperson, has created a ripple by “disclosing” that Modi included his caste, modh ghanchi, into the OBC list three months after he came to power through a government resolution dated January 1, 2002.

Hindu antecedent of Muslim Jinnah: His grandfather was Lohana-Thakkar, said to be Raghuvanshi descent of Lord Ram

By RK Misra* Nearly 70 years after his death, Muhammed Ali Jinnah’s portraits continue to adorn places like Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Bombay High Court and Sabarmati Ashram in India. On the other hand, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry building’s foundation stone states that it was laid by Mahatma Gandhi in 1934.

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