EDUCATION

School panels get financial powers
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14
After making a radical departure from the convention by extending the Bhagidari (citizen-government partnership) Programme to educational institutions, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today took the next step of “empowering” the school welfare committees. To be tried out in 55 government-run schools on an experimental basis, these committees have been given the financial powers to make sound investments for improving the quality of education rendered by government-run schools, for which purpose the Government of NCT of Delhi will dole out Rs 1.2 lakh every year.

Making the declaration at the Bhagidari Workshop hosted at Talkatora Stadium, Ms Dikshit said the school welfare committees, comprising citizen groups like resident welfare associations (RWAs), parent teacher associations (PTAs), non-government organisations (NGOs), academics and teachers, will be given a financial aid of Rs 10,000 per month for “developing” and “maintaining” quality education and infrastructure.

The welfare committees, the decision to constitute which she had announced earlier this year, will serve as an interface between the government and respective school administrations. “The objectives,” she was to say in her inaugural address, “are not only academic improvement but also integrated and holistic development of personality.”

Elaborating on the hitherto untried and untested concept of a welfare committee, Ms Dikshit said they could play a crucial role in ensuring proper infrastructure and maintenance of school premises. “The financial powers available to the principal,” she told the assembly, “for maintenance of school building will be available to the committee in order to take up petty repairs.” The committee, she said, could also be instrumental in providing the necessary managerial and supervisory support to monitoring and ensuring internal support of the mid-day meal scheme.

Education Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, in turn, said the government was spending Rs 850 per student enrolled in any of the 1,019 government-run schools. The school welfare committee, he informed, would meet twice a month and monitor the school’s performance. He said there was a four per cent shortage of teachers which situation was likely to improve soon. For better administration, five zones of the Education Department had been created and the process of linking the 1,019 schools through a computer network was being implemented.

Apply now to St Stephen’s online
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14
For the first time, candidates applying for admission to St Stephen’s College will be able to submit forms online through the Internet. Till last year, these forms were available on the college website from where they could be downloaded and posted to the college.

While this option is still available to candidates, this year candidates can also submit forms online, if they so choose, and save themselves the trouble of running around in the scorching heat.

Those who do not have access to the Internet can obtain the admission documents from the college counter from June 15 onwards while others can obtain the same by post by sending an amount of Rs 125.

The forms will have to submitted the latest by 1 pm on June 19. The list of selected candidates will be put up the day after the interviews for that subject are over, a release said.

The interviews to various courses shall commence from June 23. 

The schedule for the interviews is as follows:

Philosophy Hons June 23

Sanskrit Hons June 24

Economics Hons June 24, June 25 and June 26

Physics Hons June 24, June 25 and June 26

Mathematics Hons June 24, June 25 and June 26

English Hons June 28, June 29

Chemistry Hons June 28, June 29 and June 30

B Sc ( G) Computer Science June 28

B Sc ( Gen) Chemistry June 29

History Hons June 30, July 1 and July 2

Bas (Pass) July 3 and July 4

Sports admissions June 27.

The forms will have to submitted the latest by 1 pm on June 19. The list of selected candidates will be put up the day after the interviews for that subject are over, a release said.

Schools shut in Sonepat due to heat wave

Sonepat, May 14
The District Magistrate of Sonepat today issued an order under Section 144 Cr PC, closing all the government and private schools from May 15 to May 30 within the district. However, the order would not apply to any pre-planned external examinations that cannot be changed by the management of the schools. This step has been taken in view of the increased daytime temperature of the weather which touches as high as 43 C. OC