West Bengal has decided to bring the state’s girl students under the Centre’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme, marking a significant policy shift in the state’s approach to girls’ education, empowerment and welfare. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the decision while addressing an event in Kolkata organised to observe Kanya Ratna Divas, the newly designated...
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed a new academic course focused on substance abuse prevention and management for undergraduate and postgraduate students across disciplines, marking a broader push to address addiction awareness and promote healthier lifestyles among young people. The proposed course, titled “Substance Abuse: Prevention and Management,” is designed as a two-credit programme...
The recurring controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test has renewed questions about whether India’s largest medical entrance examination requires more than temporary security measures. The latest concerns have highlighted weaknesses that may exist at different stages of the examination process, from the preparation of question papers to their handling, storage, transportation and eventual distribution to...
Former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan received a strong show of support from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders at Parliament, days after stepping down from the education ministry amid intense political pressure and protests linked to the NEET-UG examination controversy. Pradhan made his first public appearance at the Parliament complex...
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the political party led by actor-turned-politician Vijay, has reiterated its demand for the complete scrapping of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), urging the Tamil Nadu government to maintain a firm and uncompromising position on the medical entrance examination. The party’s latest stand comes amid the continuing political and public...
The Congress party has launched a strong attack on the Central government over the ongoing fast by environmentalist and education reform advocate Sonam Wangchuk, while also raising serious concerns about recent examination-related issues and the proposed Higher Education Bill. Senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal accused the Union government of ignoring democratic voices and failing to...
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has called for a complete overhaul of India’s education system, asserting that piecemeal reforms are no longer enough to address the deep-rooted issues affecting millions of students. Speaking during an interaction with students as part of the Chhatron Ki Goonj campaign, Gandhi said the country’s education framework needs to...
The Supreme Court has declined to entertain a petition challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) implementation of the three-language policy, observing that the issue falls within the domain of educational policy and is not a matter requiring judicial intervention at this stage. The decision reinforces the judiciary’s long-standing approach of exercising restraint in...
India’s premier engineering institutions are grappling with a significant shortage of faculty members, with more than 38 percent of sanctioned teaching positions lying vacant across all 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The alarming figures have reignited concerns about the long-term impact of staffing shortages on academic quality, research productivity, and the global competitiveness of...
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced significant revisions to its Class 9 Political Science textbook, bringing renewed focus to the period of the Emergency while restructuring portions related to the Constitution, including references to the Preamble and the concept of secularism. The changes have sparked debate among education experts, political...