Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, April 30, 2007
Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu) may have to wait for some more time before becoming an Institute of National Importance (INI). The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) in a letter has asked the state to hand over Besu to the Centre for upgradation, before it gets an INI status. However, the state is keeping its options open.
The Anadkrishnan Committee selected Besu to be upgraded to the status of Indian Institute of Science, Engineering and Technology (IISET). If upgraded, BESU will have an almost equal status as those of the IIT’s.
The Bengal Engineering and Science University Teachers Association (BESUTA) on Monday met the state higher education minister Sudarsan Roychoudhuri. “We are not opposed to handing over BESU to the Centre, but it needs some discussion,” said Roychoudhuri. “Besu as been brought up to its present stature by the people of Bengal and it has been selected as a top engineering college by the Centre. Then how can the Centre not listen to us?” he added.
The state government is also not very happy with the Centre. The MHRD missive sent to the chief secretary, Amit Kiran Deb, does not have any reference to the chief minster’s letter to the Prime Minister urging him to upgrade Besu. It has not gone down well with the state government.
Roychoudhuri has in a letter to the MHRD on April 24, pointed out that he wanted to discuss the Besu handover. The state government has raised two points. The first is on the admission of students through WBJEE in the state quota. “Earlier, the state had said that it would like to reserve 75 per cent of the seats reserved for the students from Bengal. But now it seems that the state is ready to soften its stand and might not bargain for a very big chunk of seats,” said Professor Partha Pratim Chatterjee, general secretary of BESUTA after the meeting.
The state government however would want some sort of participation in the governance of Besu, even if its handed over to the Centre. The state might want to nominate candidates on the universities governing board.
The teachers, however wants the INI status for BESU on its 150th year. “We are not concerned about the issue of governance or admission. We want the government to take a positive decision so that BESU can become an INI as early as possible,” said Chatterjee.
If the university is not handed over to the Centre, BESU will not be upgraded into INI and would receive a one-time grant of Rs. 519 crore for its academic and infrastructure upgradation from the state government.
Students Scuffle
Two students were injured in a clash between undergraduate and postgraduate students of Besu at around 2.30 am on Monday. The scuffle following the entrance of some guests without passes at the annual reunion programme of the varsity. Arnab Dutta, a fourth year student of civil engineering was admitted to the SSKM, while Md Tafiqulla, a third year student of computer engineering was admitted to the Howrah General Hospital. The police lathicharged to break up the clash. Three more were injured in the police laticharge.
(mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com)
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
SSC results delayed, more barriers ahead for teachers
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, April 29, 2007
There is some alarming news for both would-be schoolteachers, and many others who are already teaching in schools. Added to this, is the bother of School Service Commission (SSC) exam results being delayed by a day.
Due to a technical snag in the SSC website, the results of the SSC exam may be delayed by a day. “We are trying our best to upload the results in our website — www.westbengalssc.com — by April 30, but due to a technical snag it may not be uploaded before May 1. However we suggest t students to keep checking our website from April 30,” said Ranajit Basu, chairman of SSC. “Since May 1 and May 2 are holidays, the hardcopy of the results will be put up on the notice board of all our regional offices on May 3,” he added. 24,571 teaching posts are up for grabs for those who have appeared for the SSC exams.
But, those who have appeared for this year’s exams will have to fulfil certain criteria to be eligible for the teaching posts. As it is, for at least 62 per cent of candidates who have appeared for the SSC, clearing the exam will not be enough. This is because though graduation is the minimum qualification to become a teacher in a government-aided school, there is a rider attached to it. That is, those who do not have a B Ed degree will have to get it within 5 years of joining work.
Now, candidates who clear the SSC exam have a new headache. From this year, the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) has declared that in order to study B Ed, candidates require at least 50 per cent in their graduation. Among the 3,60,000 students who have appeared for the SSC this year, 38 per cent have a B Ed degree. There are many amongst the others who appeared for the SSC who do not have the required marks in their graduation.
This new circular from NCTE will not only put the teachers recruited through SSC this year in a bind, but also teachers who have been recruited and are yet to complete their B Ed. When asked about this matter, Basu said: “Our job is to fill up teaching vacancies in schools and we really do not know what will happen to those who have scored below 50 per cent in their graduation and have not done their B Ed already.”
Students are also worried about this new development. There are only 8,000 B Ed seats across Bengal. “Even though I got through the SSC 3 years ago, due to limited seats I have not studied B Ed. This year my brother has taken the SSC and both of us do not have 50 per cent in our graduation. We really do not know what will happen,” said Sampa Patra, a teacher in a boys’ school near Kalyani.
According to Basu, teachers who do not have a B Ed degree 5 years after their appointment will not be entitled to any increment or promotion. They will never be able to become a teacher-in-charge or a headmaster. But there are no plans to make 50 per cent in graduation as the minimum eligibility criteria in the SSC from next year. This is because it is already difficult to get teachers for English and science subjects.
The government too is yet to take notice of this fact. “We need to do an in depth analysis of the circular first. This is not the right time to talk about it,” said an official of the school education department.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, April 29, 2007
There is some alarming news for both would-be schoolteachers, and many others who are already teaching in schools. Added to this, is the bother of School Service Commission (SSC) exam results being delayed by a day.
Due to a technical snag in the SSC website, the results of the SSC exam may be delayed by a day. “We are trying our best to upload the results in our website — www.westbengalssc.com — by April 30, but due to a technical snag it may not be uploaded before May 1. However we suggest t students to keep checking our website from April 30,” said Ranajit Basu, chairman of SSC. “Since May 1 and May 2 are holidays, the hardcopy of the results will be put up on the notice board of all our regional offices on May 3,” he added. 24,571 teaching posts are up for grabs for those who have appeared for the SSC exams.
But, those who have appeared for this year’s exams will have to fulfil certain criteria to be eligible for the teaching posts. As it is, for at least 62 per cent of candidates who have appeared for the SSC, clearing the exam will not be enough. This is because though graduation is the minimum qualification to become a teacher in a government-aided school, there is a rider attached to it. That is, those who do not have a B Ed degree will have to get it within 5 years of joining work.
Now, candidates who clear the SSC exam have a new headache. From this year, the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) has declared that in order to study B Ed, candidates require at least 50 per cent in their graduation. Among the 3,60,000 students who have appeared for the SSC this year, 38 per cent have a B Ed degree. There are many amongst the others who appeared for the SSC who do not have the required marks in their graduation.
This new circular from NCTE will not only put the teachers recruited through SSC this year in a bind, but also teachers who have been recruited and are yet to complete their B Ed. When asked about this matter, Basu said: “Our job is to fill up teaching vacancies in schools and we really do not know what will happen to those who have scored below 50 per cent in their graduation and have not done their B Ed already.”
Students are also worried about this new development. There are only 8,000 B Ed seats across Bengal. “Even though I got through the SSC 3 years ago, due to limited seats I have not studied B Ed. This year my brother has taken the SSC and both of us do not have 50 per cent in our graduation. We really do not know what will happen,” said Sampa Patra, a teacher in a boys’ school near Kalyani.
According to Basu, teachers who do not have a B Ed degree 5 years after their appointment will not be entitled to any increment or promotion. They will never be able to become a teacher-in-charge or a headmaster. But there are no plans to make 50 per cent in graduation as the minimum eligibility criteria in the SSC from next year. This is because it is already difficult to get teachers for English and science subjects.
The government too is yet to take notice of this fact. “We need to do an in depth analysis of the circular first. This is not the right time to talk about it,” said an official of the school education department.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Friday, April 27, 2007
No CU mark sheets for 65 students
Mou Chakraborty,
Kolkata, April 27,
Sixty-five students of Part I (Bachelor in music) of Bengal Music College, has been waiting for their mark sheets for two-and-a-half months as Calcutta University is facing a shortage of stationary.
The BA music results were declared on February 23. “We were amazed to see that the college authorities had put up a hand written list. We are not sure whether it was send by the university. And now there is no news of our mark sheets,” said a student on conditition of anonymity.
When HT asked controller of exams, Onkarsadhan Adhikari, about the mark sheets delay, he said, “We are aware of the problem. The students will get their mark sheets in a few days time. The stationary shortage delayed us.”
However, parents are not happy with the explanation. “How can the university come up with such a trivial reason? They have been publishing the marksheet of lakhs of students every year, but they do not have the stationary to publish the marksheet of 65 students! Even if there were no stationary, why would it take over two months to get it? Every time the students go to the university, they are told that the mark sheet will be handed over ‘next week.’ The university is playing with the future of our children, we fear they have lost the answer scripts,” said a parent on condition of anonymity.
On top of this, the university has given a June 20 date for the Part II exam. Agitated, some parents are thinking of going to court. “If they do not give the mark sheets by next week, then we will move court,” said one of the parents.
Unsure about marks acquired in Part I, the students are getting ready to take their Part II exam from June 20. “We are not even sure whether we have passed in all subjects. Only after seeing our Part I result, we could have known in which subjects we need to concentrate more. However, we fear that if we protest we may be victimised,” said another student.
The principal of the college, professor Swapan Nashkar, feels that the university is discriminating against his college. “Publishing the mark sheets is not in my hand. The results which were put up on the notice board was hand written and had no stamp or signature of the university authorities. It is a mystery to us; we really do not know why the university is taking so much time in publishing the mark sheets,” he said. “Actually with so many streams and modern subjects to look after, we feel that the university is not bothered about our college,” Nashkar added. mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, April 27,
Sixty-five students of Part I (Bachelor in music) of Bengal Music College, has been waiting for their mark sheets for two-and-a-half months as Calcutta University is facing a shortage of stationary.
The BA music results were declared on February 23. “We were amazed to see that the college authorities had put up a hand written list. We are not sure whether it was send by the university. And now there is no news of our mark sheets,” said a student on conditition of anonymity.
When HT asked controller of exams, Onkarsadhan Adhikari, about the mark sheets delay, he said, “We are aware of the problem. The students will get their mark sheets in a few days time. The stationary shortage delayed us.”
However, parents are not happy with the explanation. “How can the university come up with such a trivial reason? They have been publishing the marksheet of lakhs of students every year, but they do not have the stationary to publish the marksheet of 65 students! Even if there were no stationary, why would it take over two months to get it? Every time the students go to the university, they are told that the mark sheet will be handed over ‘next week.’ The university is playing with the future of our children, we fear they have lost the answer scripts,” said a parent on condition of anonymity.
On top of this, the university has given a June 20 date for the Part II exam. Agitated, some parents are thinking of going to court. “If they do not give the mark sheets by next week, then we will move court,” said one of the parents.
Unsure about marks acquired in Part I, the students are getting ready to take their Part II exam from June 20. “We are not even sure whether we have passed in all subjects. Only after seeing our Part I result, we could have known in which subjects we need to concentrate more. However, we fear that if we protest we may be victimised,” said another student.
The principal of the college, professor Swapan Nashkar, feels that the university is discriminating against his college. “Publishing the mark sheets is not in my hand. The results which were put up on the notice board was hand written and had no stamp or signature of the university authorities. It is a mystery to us; we really do not know why the university is taking so much time in publishing the mark sheets,” he said. “Actually with so many streams and modern subjects to look after, we feel that the university is not bothered about our college,” Nashkar added. mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Thursday, April 26, 2007
OBC quota not to be implemented this year
Chetan Chauhan, Saroj Nagi and Mou Chakraborty
New Delhi, April 26, 2007
STUDENTS WILL be admitted to central institutes, including IIMs, on last year’s pattern. A decision on admitting OBC students will be taken on May 8, the date for the Supreme Court hearing on the quota for such students. UPA and Left leaders approved this formula at a meeting on Thursday and the HRD ministry is expected to issue a directive to all institutes on Friday.
Admissions to IIMs are expected to start on Monday. “The IIMs were told to finalise the admission process. They can notify candidates for admission,” a ministry official said.
“Our results are ready. If the letter arrives on Friday, the IIMs may take a decision to post on the Internet that very night or by the next morning,” Ashish Bhattacharya, chairman of admissions at IIM-Calcutta.
Offer letters will follow the Internet posting, but students will have less time to decide whether to accept. “Normally students get three weeks to confirm they will take admission; this time it does not look like they will get more than two weeks,” Bhattacharya said.
The formula accepted by the meeting was that the new seats for OBCs (reserved) and other students (increased) would not be filled at one go. In all, 124,377 general and SC/ST students will get admission now while a decision on 12,216 others will be taken till May 8.
IIMs will admit 1350 students and 157 seats will remain vacant. IIM-C, which will fill 300 seats, will leave 18 vacant. At IITs, some postgraduate seats in IITs will be filled with undergraduate admissions scheduled for late May.
At the UPA-Left meeting, the government justified its earlier decision to withhold the results. The objective, a government note said, was to avoid an adverse effect on the Centre’s case in court and to ensure an early hearing. That objective had been achieved with a date fixed for the hearing, the note said. Hence, central institutes could be advised to admit those students who would not be affected by the court’s order.
HRD minister Arjun Singh, who chaired the meeting, first met leaders of UPA allies and tried to convince them about the ministry’s viewpoint. After the meeting, he briefed the Prime Minister.
The meeting was stormy. The DMK, the PMK and the RJD initially opposed admission, saying it would ease pressure on the Supreme Court. They later relented when Arjun pointed out that it involved the fate of a large majority of students. Byt they expressed concern about the effect of staggering the admission process.
They also asked if the government had a second option if the court did not vacate the stay on the OBC quota. The CPI(M) too raised the question. “If the stay is not vacated, the government will have to make another assertion, perhaps through another decision, another law and another constitutional amendment,” Sitaram Yechury said.
chetan@hindustantimes.com
snagi@hindustantimes.com
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
New Delhi, April 26, 2007
STUDENTS WILL be admitted to central institutes, including IIMs, on last year’s pattern. A decision on admitting OBC students will be taken on May 8, the date for the Supreme Court hearing on the quota for such students. UPA and Left leaders approved this formula at a meeting on Thursday and the HRD ministry is expected to issue a directive to all institutes on Friday.
Admissions to IIMs are expected to start on Monday. “The IIMs were told to finalise the admission process. They can notify candidates for admission,” a ministry official said.
“Our results are ready. If the letter arrives on Friday, the IIMs may take a decision to post on the Internet that very night or by the next morning,” Ashish Bhattacharya, chairman of admissions at IIM-Calcutta.
Offer letters will follow the Internet posting, but students will have less time to decide whether to accept. “Normally students get three weeks to confirm they will take admission; this time it does not look like they will get more than two weeks,” Bhattacharya said.
The formula accepted by the meeting was that the new seats for OBCs (reserved) and other students (increased) would not be filled at one go. In all, 124,377 general and SC/ST students will get admission now while a decision on 12,216 others will be taken till May 8.
IIMs will admit 1350 students and 157 seats will remain vacant. IIM-C, which will fill 300 seats, will leave 18 vacant. At IITs, some postgraduate seats in IITs will be filled with undergraduate admissions scheduled for late May.
At the UPA-Left meeting, the government justified its earlier decision to withhold the results. The objective, a government note said, was to avoid an adverse effect on the Centre’s case in court and to ensure an early hearing. That objective had been achieved with a date fixed for the hearing, the note said. Hence, central institutes could be advised to admit those students who would not be affected by the court’s order.
HRD minister Arjun Singh, who chaired the meeting, first met leaders of UPA allies and tried to convince them about the ministry’s viewpoint. After the meeting, he briefed the Prime Minister.
The meeting was stormy. The DMK, the PMK and the RJD initially opposed admission, saying it would ease pressure on the Supreme Court. They later relented when Arjun pointed out that it involved the fate of a large majority of students. Byt they expressed concern about the effect of staggering the admission process.
They also asked if the government had a second option if the court did not vacate the stay on the OBC quota. The CPI(M) too raised the question. “If the stay is not vacated, the government will have to make another assertion, perhaps through another decision, another law and another constitutional amendment,” Sitaram Yechury said.
chetan@hindustantimes.com
snagi@hindustantimes.com
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
CNI schools to turn child friendly, ban corporal punishment
Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, March 25, 2007
Many modern-day teachers, like teachers in their own childhood, still believe sparing the rod only spoils the child. The Churches of North India (CNI) is changing all that. It will ban corporal punishment in its schools and make its teachers ‘child-friendly’.
The rules being drafted for the accent-shift will take effect in July and protect children from punishments like having to stand up on the bench, stand outside the class, squat in a kneel-down position, being beaten with scales and insulted in front of others. In Kolkata, more than 10 schools including La Martiniere, Pratt Memorial, St. Thomas, St. James, St. Paul’s and St. John Diocesan, are gearing up for the change.
“All punishments that involve physical abuse or end in mental and social stigma for the child should stop. Such punishments have a lasting effect. A child should not also be asked to stand outside the class because this amounts depriving him. His parents are paying for his studies and he has the right to attend the classes. Making standing up on the bench too is no solution either. So we are making firm rules barring teachers from administering such punishments,” said CNI head Bishop P. S. P. Raju.
The rules will lay down what a teacher can and cannot do. He will teach his students, adivise even counsel them, but never resort to physical or verbal abuse to discipline them.
If a student turns out to be too obstinate or wayward, the teacher, for instance, can make him write ‘ I will never do this again’ a hundred times. He will explain to the student why he was being punished. But if the student repeats the offence, the principal will step in.
“If the principal fails to make him fall in line, he will speak to the student in the presence of his guardians. If that too fails, we will send him to a counsellor. If this fails to work, we will ask him to go some other school,” said Raju.
To avoid police complaints and lawsuits the whole process of ‘trying to correct an unruly child’ will be documented. “Just as we don’t want children to suffer, we also don’t want our teachers be harassed by our students parents.
A teacher might at times feel that a particular student could do with some mild scolding. But he must scold the child in the presence of another teacher. With proper documentation the school will able to prove its point in a court of law. To help teachers adapt to the new methodology, there will be orientation programmes every three months. We have subject-specific orientation courses. But these programmes will be on teaching techniques,” said Raju.
The curriculum will cover areas like fighting with exam stress, child management and will cover the basic instructions in the UN charter for child protection.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Kolkata, March 25, 2007
Many modern-day teachers, like teachers in their own childhood, still believe sparing the rod only spoils the child. The Churches of North India (CNI) is changing all that. It will ban corporal punishment in its schools and make its teachers ‘child-friendly’.
The rules being drafted for the accent-shift will take effect in July and protect children from punishments like having to stand up on the bench, stand outside the class, squat in a kneel-down position, being beaten with scales and insulted in front of others. In Kolkata, more than 10 schools including La Martiniere, Pratt Memorial, St. Thomas, St. James, St. Paul’s and St. John Diocesan, are gearing up for the change.
“All punishments that involve physical abuse or end in mental and social stigma for the child should stop. Such punishments have a lasting effect. A child should not also be asked to stand outside the class because this amounts depriving him. His parents are paying for his studies and he has the right to attend the classes. Making standing up on the bench too is no solution either. So we are making firm rules barring teachers from administering such punishments,” said CNI head Bishop P. S. P. Raju.
The rules will lay down what a teacher can and cannot do. He will teach his students, adivise even counsel them, but never resort to physical or verbal abuse to discipline them.
If a student turns out to be too obstinate or wayward, the teacher, for instance, can make him write ‘ I will never do this again’ a hundred times. He will explain to the student why he was being punished. But if the student repeats the offence, the principal will step in.
“If the principal fails to make him fall in line, he will speak to the student in the presence of his guardians. If that too fails, we will send him to a counsellor. If this fails to work, we will ask him to go some other school,” said Raju.
To avoid police complaints and lawsuits the whole process of ‘trying to correct an unruly child’ will be documented. “Just as we don’t want children to suffer, we also don’t want our teachers be harassed by our students parents.
A teacher might at times feel that a particular student could do with some mild scolding. But he must scold the child in the presence of another teacher. With proper documentation the school will able to prove its point in a court of law. To help teachers adapt to the new methodology, there will be orientation programmes every three months. We have subject-specific orientation courses. But these programmes will be on teaching techniques,” said Raju.
The curriculum will cover areas like fighting with exam stress, child management and will cover the basic instructions in the UN charter for child protection.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Kolkata copes with shortage of NCERT books
Mou Chakraborty & Sujit Nath
Kolkata, April 24, 2007
The shortage of NCERT books, followed by CBSE schools is hitting the students hard. Particularly affected are students of Class IX and Class XII.
Taking advantage, unscrupulous traders are charging an exorbitant price for the books. The English Kaleidoscope and English Flamingo for Class XII, which cost Rs 30 are available for Rs 150. The Physics-I of Class XII is available for Rs 250 to Rs 300. The actual price is Rs 125.
Santosh Pathak on a visit to Kolkata, said, “I came from New Delhi with a hope that I will get books for my daughter. They are charging an exorbitant price. However, I don’t have any other options, so I bought the books.”
The booksellers said that NCERT has failed to publish an adequate numbers of books and therefore there is a major shortfall. “The entire syllabus has changed and the NCERT has failed to print the books,” Baren Das, a College Street bookseller said.
However, speaking to Hindustan Times, a senior NCERT official, Vishnu Chandra Patra, said, “There is no crisis of books in Bengal. We have our regional production and distribution centre at Panihati. The crisis is being created by booksellers.”
Last year, NCERT published 2.75 crore textbooks. Due to the change in syllabus and to avoid a crisis, we have printed 4.98 crore textbooks. “There are only 6810 CBSE schools in India, so how can there be a crisis,” said Patra. However, he added that schools eyeing for CBSE affiliation, prescribe NCERT books to their students, which sometimes creates a problem.
The worst sufferers are the student of Class X. “There are no books. We are taking advance money from the students and they are getting the books after a week,” said Shankar Das, another bookseller at College Street.
The marked price for the three Class X English books is Rs 100. It is available for Rs 115. Similarly, Class IX books of history and political science are available for anything between Rs 150 to Rs 200. The actual price for the books is between Rs 50 to Rs 75.
It is mandatory for schools to put NCERT books on the booklist or else their CBSE affiliation is cancelled. The principal of Hariyana Vidyamandir, Basudev Bhattacharya, said, “Even this year the NCERT had asked us to send requisitions for books required for our school through our recognised bookseller. The formalities were completed two months back, but the books have not arrived.”
To avoid the crisis, the schools are downloading the NCERT books from Internet and distributing photocopies of the first two chapters to all its students.
While the books are unavailable with booksellers and the schools, the students are flocking to NCERT’s regional production and distribution centre at Panihati. However, they are returning empty handed.
“After standing in the queue for an hour I got only one book,” said Bidhan Sarkar, parent of a Class IX student of Bharatiya Vidyabhavan.
Principal of Birla High School for Boys, Mukta Nain, said, “Schools follow NCERT books because the board examinations are based on these texts. This is why the shortage is felt most from Class IX to Class XII.”
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
sujit.nath@hindustantimes.com
From pillar to post
· Students from Class IX to Class XII are most affected
· Unscrupulous traders have jacked up book prices
· Booksellers blame NCERT for not publishing an adequate number of booksSchools are downloading the books from the Internet
Kolkata, April 24, 2007
The shortage of NCERT books, followed by CBSE schools is hitting the students hard. Particularly affected are students of Class IX and Class XII.
Taking advantage, unscrupulous traders are charging an exorbitant price for the books. The English Kaleidoscope and English Flamingo for Class XII, which cost Rs 30 are available for Rs 150. The Physics-I of Class XII is available for Rs 250 to Rs 300. The actual price is Rs 125.
Santosh Pathak on a visit to Kolkata, said, “I came from New Delhi with a hope that I will get books for my daughter. They are charging an exorbitant price. However, I don’t have any other options, so I bought the books.”
The booksellers said that NCERT has failed to publish an adequate numbers of books and therefore there is a major shortfall. “The entire syllabus has changed and the NCERT has failed to print the books,” Baren Das, a College Street bookseller said.
However, speaking to Hindustan Times, a senior NCERT official, Vishnu Chandra Patra, said, “There is no crisis of books in Bengal. We have our regional production and distribution centre at Panihati. The crisis is being created by booksellers.”
Last year, NCERT published 2.75 crore textbooks. Due to the change in syllabus and to avoid a crisis, we have printed 4.98 crore textbooks. “There are only 6810 CBSE schools in India, so how can there be a crisis,” said Patra. However, he added that schools eyeing for CBSE affiliation, prescribe NCERT books to their students, which sometimes creates a problem.
The worst sufferers are the student of Class X. “There are no books. We are taking advance money from the students and they are getting the books after a week,” said Shankar Das, another bookseller at College Street.
The marked price for the three Class X English books is Rs 100. It is available for Rs 115. Similarly, Class IX books of history and political science are available for anything between Rs 150 to Rs 200. The actual price for the books is between Rs 50 to Rs 75.
It is mandatory for schools to put NCERT books on the booklist or else their CBSE affiliation is cancelled. The principal of Hariyana Vidyamandir, Basudev Bhattacharya, said, “Even this year the NCERT had asked us to send requisitions for books required for our school through our recognised bookseller. The formalities were completed two months back, but the books have not arrived.”
To avoid the crisis, the schools are downloading the NCERT books from Internet and distributing photocopies of the first two chapters to all its students.
While the books are unavailable with booksellers and the schools, the students are flocking to NCERT’s regional production and distribution centre at Panihati. However, they are returning empty handed.
“After standing in the queue for an hour I got only one book,” said Bidhan Sarkar, parent of a Class IX student of Bharatiya Vidyabhavan.
Principal of Birla High School for Boys, Mukta Nain, said, “Schools follow NCERT books because the board examinations are based on these texts. This is why the shortage is felt most from Class IX to Class XII.”
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com
sujit.nath@hindustantimes.com
From pillar to post
· Students from Class IX to Class XII are most affected
· Unscrupulous traders have jacked up book prices
· Booksellers blame NCERT for not publishing an adequate number of booksSchools are downloading the books from the Internet
Fresh court date, quota still on hold
Chetan Chauhan, Satya Prakash and Mou Chakraborty
New Delhi/Kolkata, April 24, 2007
THE SUSPENSE over IIM admissions remained on Tuesday as the HRD ministry did not withdraw the directive asking IIMs and IITs to keep admissions on hold. HRD minister Arjun Singh said the directive would stand and added, “I don’t think any fresh directive is required.”
Since Monday, when the Supreme Court declined to lift the stay on the OBC quota, it has looked unlikely that the quota can be introduced from this session. On May 8, the Supreme Court will conduct a hearing on the constitutional validity of the law passed by the Centre.
The hearing was fixed by the Chief Justice of India. Attorney general Milon K. Banerjee mentioned the Centre’s application for an early hearing, while the anti-quota camp protested. The CJI asserted that it was his prerogative to decide in what manner a case had to be heard. Fixing the date, the CJI asked the parties to complete all formalities by then.
The hearing is, however, expected to drag as indications are that the matter will ultimately go to a constitution bench. The Centre had submitted that the case involved complicated legal issues that should be decided by a constitution bench. Once the matter goes to such a bench, the Centre can again seek lifting of the stay, but time is the crucial factor.
As the stalemate lingered, IIM candidates fretted about their future. “Even after the Supreme Court order, the ministry is pursuing its agenda,” said Sourav Sen, who scored 99.49 percent in CAT.
Ashish Bhattacharya, chairman of admissions at IIM-C, said, “We cannot publish the result unless the Centre tells us to do so. We have informed the ministry about the problem of the students.”
Arjun Singh said all IIMs were cooperating. He reminded them they were government institutions and not private institutions — and autonomous bodies but not independent.
Arjun continued to defend the quota. On the court’s observation that the government was rushing through the implementation when it has waited for 57 years, he snapped: “I am not getting any out of this. It was Parliament’s decision to give OBCs reservation.”
chetan@hindustantimes.com
satya.prakash@hindustantimes.com
mou.Chakraborty@yahoo.com
New Delhi/Kolkata, April 24, 2007
THE SUSPENSE over IIM admissions remained on Tuesday as the HRD ministry did not withdraw the directive asking IIMs and IITs to keep admissions on hold. HRD minister Arjun Singh said the directive would stand and added, “I don’t think any fresh directive is required.”
Since Monday, when the Supreme Court declined to lift the stay on the OBC quota, it has looked unlikely that the quota can be introduced from this session. On May 8, the Supreme Court will conduct a hearing on the constitutional validity of the law passed by the Centre.
The hearing was fixed by the Chief Justice of India. Attorney general Milon K. Banerjee mentioned the Centre’s application for an early hearing, while the anti-quota camp protested. The CJI asserted that it was his prerogative to decide in what manner a case had to be heard. Fixing the date, the CJI asked the parties to complete all formalities by then.
The hearing is, however, expected to drag as indications are that the matter will ultimately go to a constitution bench. The Centre had submitted that the case involved complicated legal issues that should be decided by a constitution bench. Once the matter goes to such a bench, the Centre can again seek lifting of the stay, but time is the crucial factor.
As the stalemate lingered, IIM candidates fretted about their future. “Even after the Supreme Court order, the ministry is pursuing its agenda,” said Sourav Sen, who scored 99.49 percent in CAT.
Ashish Bhattacharya, chairman of admissions at IIM-C, said, “We cannot publish the result unless the Centre tells us to do so. We have informed the ministry about the problem of the students.”
Arjun Singh said all IIMs were cooperating. He reminded them they were government institutions and not private institutions — and autonomous bodies but not independent.
Arjun continued to defend the quota. On the court’s observation that the government was rushing through the implementation when it has waited for 57 years, he snapped: “I am not getting any out of this. It was Parliament’s decision to give OBCs reservation.”
chetan@hindustantimes.com
satya.prakash@hindustantimes.com
mou.Chakraborty@yahoo.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)