Orissa Right to education petition The Orissa State Human Rights Commission (OSHRC) has asked the local administration of Kendrapara district to expeditiously file a report in connection with alleged denial of primary education to over 500 children of sea-erosion hit villages in the district. This notice to the district administration was issued after several parents residing in the coastal villages of Satabhaya, Rabindrapalli, Magar-kanda, Kanhupur, and Barahipur filed a petition before OSHRC, alleging that their children are being denied their right to primary education consequent upon the flooding of the government primary in remote Kanhupur village. The school was relocated to a private house in Barahipur, but with teachers playing truant, classroom teaching has come to a halt, avers the petition. The petitioners also alleged that they had drawn the attention of the district administration to the issue, but to no avail. Anxious students had also written to the collector, without any response. Therefore they had petitioned OSHRC. Punjab Board exams cancellation The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) cancelled five state board annual exams of class XII students conducted in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, after flying squads of the education ministry reported mass copying. PSEB chairman Dalbir Singh Dhillon ordered cancellation of answer papers of class XII students in the two districts, according to a press release issued in Mohali on March 4. The date, time and centres for re-examination will be announced shortly, PSEB secretary Pavittar Pal Kaur told media personnel. A day earlier PSEB declared a class XII maths exam held on February 21 at the Government Senior Secondary School (Block-I), Amritsar, null and void. Kerala Minister denies anti-religion charge Addressing a crowded press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on March 10, Kerala education minister M.A. Baby refuted charges that the Communist Party Marxist-led LDF government of the state is anti-religion. “Such a campaign by the media is improper,” he told assembled media personnel, and demanded a public apology. According to Baby, a “poisonous editorial” was published by an unnamed daily against the LDF government. “The LDF’s policy is that there should be secular content in textbooks. This policy is being attacked by people who haven’t studied it,” he said. Jammu & Kashmir Fees increase warning The state government of Jammu and Kashmir has directed private schools in the state to accept annual tuition fees payable by students, in advance. However it warned school managements to notify annual/quarterly/monthly fee increases, well before commencement of each academic year. Moreover at a high-level meeting of education officials called in Jammu on March 9, school education minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed made it clear that school managements should not raise tuition fees, unless they are first cleared by a government committee constituted for the purpose. Gujarat Education minister forced to resign Gujarat’s minister for higher education Maya Kodnani resigned from the Narendra Modi government on March 27, after the Gujarat high court cancelled the anticipatory bail she had obtained several months ago. Kodnani is wanted for interrogation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT)…
