Latest news with #HarsuhinderpalSinghBrar
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: This summer vacation, students staying in school to learn a new Indian language
As summer vacations begin across government schools in Chandigarh, students are turning their break into a meaningful and memorable experience by learning a new Indian language and getting a closer look at the country's vibrant cultural diversity. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, week-long Bhartiya Bhasha Summer Camps, launched under the National Education Policy (NEP) by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), are being organised across all 111 government schools of the city. A total of 22 Indian languages are being taught, with around 75 to 80 students enrolled in each school. Apart from school teachers, community volunteers have also been roped in for the camps. Making the most of their holidays, students from Classes 6 to 9 will engage in interactive, hands-on sessions where they will pick up greetings, phrases, songs and real-life conversation skills in a new language. Through these novel camps, they will not just make their summer break more productive, but also discover diverse cultures, cuisines, festivals, traditional arts, history and geography. The languages offered include Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri. Among schools with high participation are Government High School, Maloya Colony (Tamil); Government Middle School (Gujarati and Sanskrit); Government Model Middle School, Sector 49 (Sanskrit and Punjabi); Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19 (Urdu, Bengali, and Sanskrit), and Government Senior Secondary School, Mauli Jagran (Sanskrit and Marathi). At Government Model High School, Sector 37-C, 70 students have signed up to learn Kannada. Nepali — the only foreign language in the list — is also being taught at several schools. The camps already started on Friday in some schools, including Government Model High School, Sector 42, where Sanskrit was taught and Government Middle School, Sector 26, Bapu Dham Colony, where Bengali was taught. UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said the programme was a transformative step in strengthening India's linguistic heritage and fostering multilingual citizens. He added that it supported NEP's 'Learn One More Indian Language' vision, giving students valuable insights into Indian culture and preparing them for a broader job market nationwide. To continue the spirit of the initiative, Bhartiya Bhasha Clubs will be set up in schools. All participants — students and teachers — will receive certificates acknowledging their commitment to embracing India's linguistic diversity.
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
UT: 6,115 EWS students currently enrolled in Chandigarh's private schools
There are 6,115 students enrolled under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and other disadvantaged groups in the 59 private non-minority schools of the city from pre-primary Class 1 up to Class 8 as per the data compiled and issued by the UT education department in a public order. This comes as per the standing order issued earlier this week by UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar for EWS admissions on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court. While the UT education department has kept records for EWS students admitted in city schools for reimbursement purposes, this is the first time that the data has been tabulated and issued in a public order. Class wise, there were more EWS students in pre-primary classes as compared to higher classes according to the data for the2024-25 session. As many as 761 students were enrolled in pre-primary Class 1 and 681 students in pre-primary Class 2. A drop in numbers is seen from Class 3 with 606 students, to Class 4, which had 557 students. The number is lowest at Class 8, which had 445 students. Pre-primary Class 3, which was officially notified from the 2023-24 session onwards, also had a comparatively lower number of students. While denying that this indicates that the students are dropping out, Brar said, 'We have to take in factors like migration into consideration. Sometimes, students also opt to transfer from private schools to government schools. It would not be wise to say that the students are dropping out or it would reflect as a rise in out of school children in the city. ' For the 2025-26 session for which EWS admissions have already taken place, therewere 850 total seats as per RTE but only 786 seats were verified. As many as 61 seats have been rejected due to various reasons, including submission of improper documents or other cases where students did not qualify for the EWS quota. There are three seats for which admissions are still pending. All three are at Vivek High School. Numbers are further conflated as some schools had only recently started EWS admissions. Vivek High School, Sector 38, only has 22 students in pre-primary Class 1, while St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, only has 20 students in pre-primary Class 2. While the Independent Schools Association (ISA) had said it will file a reply to the standing order, alleging that the department is neglecting its demands, officials confirmed that till now they have not received any complaints from the schools. Montessori admissions not covered under EWS seats While many schools, including Vivek High School, are running a montessori toddlers system for which admissions begin as children turn 18 months old, they are alleging that these are not covered under the EWS seats. The department, however, has now replied that as per National Education Policy, schooling starts from three years of age for children and there will be no reimbursement of any fee for any school model which enrols students below the age of three.
