AssamDisqualification warning Assams ministry of education has warned it will disqualify school headmasters appointed on the basis of invalid B.Ed certificates. According to an official circular issued on October 25, many school teachers have obtained mandatory B.Ed certificates from the UP-based Bharatiya Shiksha Parishad which is not affiliated with any recognised university. As such, it is not authorised to issue any degree or diploma, it said. Several headmasters appointed on the basis of such certificates will be disqualified from their positions, says the ministrys circular. Holders of these certificates will be deemed accomplices in fraud, are liable to be prosecuted and will not be entitled for selection to any post, it added. Uttar pradesh Reservation demand Instead of writing to the prime minister, Mayawati should implement 8.44 percent reservation for Muslims from within the 27 percent quota for backward classes, suggested All India United Muslim Morcha (AIUMM) national president, M.A. Siddiqui, speaking to the media in Rae Bareli on October 8. According to Siddiqui, if the state government does not suo motu implement reservation for Muslims, UP chief minister Mayawatis September 17 letter to the prime minister will be exposed as fake sympathy and a political move ahead of the upcoming UP assembly polls. In order to provide reservation for Muslims and give them opportunities in accordance with their population, consideration can be given for required provision in the Constitution through an amendment to which my government is committed to provide complete support, Mayawati had said in her letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh. Siddiqui said it was unfortunate that so-called secular parties always considered Muslims their vote bank, and warned that the minority community will not tolerate this. Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan added that Mayawatis letter to the prime minister demanding reservation for Muslims was an insult to the community and just a political gimmick ahead of the 2012 polls. Tripura RTE funding call The right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (aka RTE Act) is difficult to implement because of some stringent conditions, Tripuras school education minister Tapan Chakraborty informed the media in Agartala on October 21. Speaking to newspersons after returning from a meeting of the National Advisory Council in New Delhi, the minister said factors like infrastructure, teacher training and no detention stipulations of the RTE Act, are likely to prove major roadblocks. In the schedule of the Act, there is specific mention of infrastructure requirements for all elementary schools. For states with resource constraints like Tripura, it will be very difficult to fulfil these infrastructure norms within the time frame fixed by the Act, Chakraborty told reporters. Challenges are also likely to be posed by the RTE Acts requirement of providing safe and adequate drinking water to all children, particularly in the hill districts and playgrounds in urban areas. Hence funding from the Centre is necessary, he said. Jharkhand Madarsa funding appeal The jharkhand mukti Morcha (JMM), a crucial ally of the BJP-led state government of Jharkhand, demanded full implementation…
