Right to Education helplines ringing off the hook

Several students from economically underprivileged backgrounds have been dialling the Right to Education (RTE) Act helpline numbers, wanting to know how they could get into good private schools. According to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which came into force from April 1, 2010, 25% seats are reserved for underprivileged sections in all private unaided schools.

Several private schools in the city have not implemented the provision and many people have called the helpline numbers with complaints.

The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) created the RTE helpline numbers (044-28278742, 28211391) to help implement the legislation and give needy students access to private schools. Delhi-based NGO Social Jurist has also started national helplines (09868529459, 08826456565) for free legal assistance under the RTE Act to students from poor backgrounds.

"We have received several calls from various parts of the state," said SCERT joint director (schemes) M Palanisamy We are taking steps to address the complaints. We are also conducting various awareness programs for both parents and teachers."

Officials of SCERT said several callers ask for documents required for admission under the RTE Act. Many students and parents also want to know the nodal officers they should contact for admissions and the process of reimbursement of school fees.

"Most people are still unaware of the legislation. Many private schools claim that the RTE quota is not applicable to minority-administered schools," said a senior SCERT official. "We are also getting complaints that some private schools are not allowing admission under the RTE Act. We will take every step to ensure that the RTE Act is a success in the state."

Ashok Aggarwal, advisor of Social Jurist and national president of the parent's association, said the national helpline has received several calls from Tamil Nadu. "We are providing legal help to needy students seeking admission under the legislation," he said. "Some callers have complained of arbitrary hikes in the school fees without any notice."

Students Federation of India (SFI) is planning to organise campaigns across the state to promote awareness on the Act. The federation's state president, K S Kanagaraj, said many private schools are flouting the RTE Act. "We have been conducting various campaigns and seminars demanding effective implementation of the law," he said.

Indians are No. 2 online searchers for education

A recent study by Google has found that Indians are second in the world, behind only the Americans, when it comes to searching online about educational institutions and courses. According to the survey, the details of which were released by the online search giant on Wednesday, over 60% Indian students use the internet to research on education.

The study, covering the period from January 2011 to June 2012 and titled Students on the Web, revealed that education-related queries from India were growing at over 46% year-on-year and of the total questions asked online, 40% were for higher education courses. The use of mobiles to send queries has grown by 135% year on year, accounting for 22% of the total education-related searches.

Rajan Anandan, VP and managing director of Google India, said, "With over 60 million internet users in India being in the 18-35 age group, education-related search queries are exploding on Google. Our core objective behind compiling the study was to understand the impact internet is having on this young population with regard to education-related decision-making."

Despite an array of courses available, Indian students seem to stick to the tried and tested ones, with IT/vocational (44%) courses inviting the maximum hits, followed by engineering (40%) and management (16%).

"Students opt for whatever assures them a good job. Engineering and IT are still the favourites as students start opting for bifocal subjects like computer science in junior college itself," said Suhas Pednekar, principal of Ramnarain Ruia College in Matunga. According to him, most students now go for a management course after graduation. "Since our graduation courses are majorly theoretical with very little of skill-based subjects, students prefer doing an MBA after graduation," Pednekar explained.

The study was compiled by combining Google search query patterns and an offline research by TNS Australia. According to the offline survey which was conducted in seven cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Ahmedabad, 56% students said job placement was the most important criteria while researching/selecting institutes/courses. Faculty (49%), course content (48%), reputation of the institute (43%) and fees (41%) followed behind. The study also found that students research for 5-6 months on an average before zeroing in on a course and an institute.