Page 4 - Schools

Delhi HC rejects total smartphone ban in schools, issues guidelines

The court noted that its intent is to establish guiding principles to balance the positive and negative effects of allowing students to use smartphones

Massive fire at Pennsylvania aerospace plant prompts evacuation orders

Schools were closed and residents ordered to shelter-in-place on Tuesday after a large fire broke out at an aerospace manufacturer's facility in a town north of Philadelphia, officials said. The fire broke out at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown around 9:30 pm on Monday. Witnesses said there was an explosion and flames could be seen inside the warehouse, the Abington Township Police Department said in a statement on social media. The building was evacuated, all employees were accounted for and no injuries were reported. SPS Technologies describes itself as a developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a line of aerospace fasteners and precision components. The Abington and Jenkintown school districts and all private and parochial schools were closed on Tuesday. The shelter-in-place order initially was in effect until the incident was under control because smoke and particulates from the fire were filtering across the area, officials said. But residents and businesses in the immedi

Schools around US confront anxiety over Trump's actions on immigration

In Fresno, California, social media rumours about impending immigration raids at the city's schools left some parents panicking even though the raids were all hoaxes. In Denver, a real immigration raid at an apartment complex led to scores of students staying home from school, according to a lawsuit. And in Alice, Texas, a school official incorrectly told parents that Border Patrol agents might board school buses to check immigration papers. President Donald Trump's immigration policies already are affecting schools across the country, as officials find themselves responding to rising anxiety among parents and their children, including those who are here legally. Trump's executive actions vastly expanded who is eligible for deportation and lifted a ban on immigration enforcement in schools. While many public and school officials have been working to encourage immigrants to send their children to school, some have done the opposite. Meanwhile, Republicans in Oklahoma and Tennessee

Sudha Murty urges govt to provide funds to promote storytelling in schools

Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty on Tuesday urged the union government to provide funds to schools to build halls where students can be taught values through storytelling. Participating in a debate on the Budget in the Rajya Sabha, the engineer-turned-philanthropist said the Budget is particularly good for the middle-classes. While welcoming the budget, she stressed that children should be taught values to make them good citizens. "We can teach children AI, computer science, mathematics etc, but you are not making our children good citizens. A good character, value based education, we are not able to do that," Murty said. "It is very difficult to bring up children without a value system because ultimately they do not become good citizens even though they may be highly educated people," she said. Murty added that just moral science classes won't help either. "Once I was working in a school village. Many parents, especially mothers, came to me and said our children don't listen to us, th

Police suspect student mischief behind bomb threats in Delhi-NCR schools

A prominent college and two schools in Delhi-NCR received bomb threats over email on Friday, prompting police to deploy explosive disposal units and dog squads to comb the premises, officials said. The threat emails were sent to St Stephen's College, a constituent of the Delhi University, Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar, and the Shiv Nadar School in Noida. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ram Badan Singh later dismissed the threat email sent to Shiv Nadar School as a "hoax". "At 7:42 am, St Stephen's College received a bomb threat via email. Our bomb and dog squads are on the ground, checking the entire premises," a senior Delhi Police officer said. An officer in the East Delhi district said officials of the Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar Phase-1 informed the police around 6:40 am that they had received an email regarding a bomb on the premises. Teams are checking the premises, the officer added. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Singh said the pol

Four private schools in Noida receive bomb threats, students evacuated

Teams from Noida Police, and fire department reached Step By Step School, The Heritage School Noida, Gyanshree School, and Mayoor School to conduct search operations on the premises

OOPE declines, school enrolments rise as social expenditure surges: Survey

Economic survey says India could attain WHO doctor availability norms of 1:1000 by 2030

Increase in govt school enrolment during Covid reversed: Aser report

The increase in government school enrolment seen during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have reversed, with the proportion of children aged 6-14 years enrolled in government schools nearly back to the 2018 levels, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released on Tuesday. The report also noted that not only there has been a full recovery from the pandemic-induced learning loss, the learning levels in the primary grades are higher than past levels in some cases. The crucial report found that more than 82 per cent children in the 14-16 age group know how to use a smartphone but only 57 per cent of them use it for educational purposes. "The increase in government school enrolment seen during the COVID-19 years seems to have reversed. Private school enrolment has been steadily rising since 2006 in rural India. The proportion of 614-year-olds enrolled in private schools rose from 18.7 per cent in 2006 to 30.8 per cent in 2014 and stayed at that level in 2018. "During

57% schools have functional computers, 53% have internet access: Govt

Only 57 per cent schools in the country have functional computers while 53 per cent have Internet access, according to the Union education ministry's UDISE data. The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus is a data aggregation platform maintained by the education ministry to collate school education data from around the country. While over 90 per cent of schools are equipped with basic amenities such as electricity and gender-specific toilets, advanced facilities like functional desktop, Internet access, and ramps with handrails remain limited. Only 57.2 per cent of schools have functional computers, 53.9 per cent have Internet, and 52.3 per cent are equipped with ramps, the report noted, underscoring significant gaps in accessibility and technological readiness. The enrolment landscape has also seen changes, with the total number of students declining 37 lakh to 24.8 crore in 2023-24. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) revealed disparities across educational

Christmas 2024 speech ideas: Long, short speeches for students in English

It's Christmas and time for many students to participate in events in their schools and colleges to give speeches. Here are some short and long Christmas Day speech ideas in English

Prevent enrolment of illegal Bangladeshi migrants: DoE to Delhi schools

The Directorate of Education on Monday asked schools in Delhi to prevent the enrolment of "illegal Bangladeshi migrants" by ensuring a strict document verification process during admission. "Schools must ensure strict admission procedures, verification of students' documentation to prevent illegal Bangladeshi migrants' enrolment... implementation of greater scrutiny to detect and prevent unauthorised admissions of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, in particular," according to the circular. It directed the heads of all government, government-aided and unaided recognised private schools to refer to the local police and the revenue authority any case where they have doubts. The Directorate of Education further instructed the school heads to ensure that a careful process is followed to verify and handle all necessary documentation when enrolling the children of migrants. The District Directorate of Education (districts/zones) were directed to submit weekly reports of all such cases to the

Haryana declares holiday in schools following demise of Om Prakash Chautala

The mortal remains of former CM Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala were brought to Teja Khera

CBSE inspects 29 schools for 'dummy' students, plans legal action

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted a series of surprise inspections at 29 schools in Delhi, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Bihar, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh to check enrolment of 'dummy' students, officials said on Thursday. According to CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta, a total of 29 teams, comprising a CBSE officer and a principal from an affiliated school, conducted the inspections. "Majority of the inspected schools were found to have violated the Board's Affiliation Bye-Laws by enrolling students beyond their actual attendance records, effectively creating 'non-attending' enrolments. Additionally, schools were found to be flouting infrastructural norms of the board," Gupta said. "CBSE has taken these violations seriously and is in the process of issuing show-cause notices to the schools found in breach of regulations. The Board is also considering legal action against the defaulting institutions," he added. The inspections were conducted on Wednesday and ...

Bomb threats trigger evacuations in Delhi schools, no explosives found

Bomb threats triggered evacuations in several Delhi schools, but police and bomb squads found no explosives after thorough searches

Hoax bomb threat strikes Delhi schools again, second incident in a week

Security agencies are investigating an email that claimed explosives were planted in several Delhi schools, prompting an evacuation. So far, no suspicious items have been found at the institutions

Three schools in Delhi receive bomb threat over mail, checks underway

Three schools in Delhi received bomb threats over email early on Friday, triggering a multi-agency search of the premises, officials said. The latest threats come on the back of at least 44 schools receiving similar emails on December 9. Police had declared those threats as hoaxes. A Delhi Fire Services official said, "We received calls (regarding the threat emails) from Bhatnagar International School in Paschim Vihar (4:21 am), Cambridge School in Shri Niwas Puri (6:23 am) and DPS Amar Colony in East of Kailash (6:35 am)." The fire department, police and bomb detection teams, along with dog squads, have reached the schools and are conducting checks, he said. The schools' authorities have sent messages to guardians to not send their wards for classes. A police official said checks were underway.

Trustees' body moves HC to seek closure of unauthorised schools in Thane

A private organisation of school trustees has said it has approached the Bombay High Court to demand immediate closure of unauthorised educational institutions in Diva area of Maharashtra's Thane district. The demand comes days after the headmistress of a private school in Mumbra area here was arrested for allegedly not informing police about the molestation of a 10-year-old girl by a man in the institution. The Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) has claimed it was an unauthorised institution. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, MESTA Thane district president Naresh Pawar condemned the incident and claimed the number of unauthorised schools in Diva has gone up to nearly 70 from 40 last year. He further claimed that students and parents were being exploited by these schools with false documents, such as mark sheets, school certificates, and bonafide certificates, being issued without legal authorisation. In the 2023-24 academic year, FIRs were filed again

Cyclone Fengal to hit Tamil Nadu: Rainfall disrupts flight, schools shut

Cyclone Fengal intensifies over Bay of Bengal, expected to bring heavy rain and winds to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry by November 30, affecting schools, flights, and maritime safety

India's goal to improve higher education enrolment seems hard to get

Country will need more universities and colleges to meet 2035 target set by National Education Policy

Haryana: Schools till class five in Nuh closed till Nov 22 amid pollution

Meanwhile, a thick layer of smog engulfed the Karnal city of Haryana on Monday as the air quality continues to deteriorate. A layer of fog also shrouded the Ambala city as the winter set in