Plea to let SC, ST students retry for admissions
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 3
The SC/ST and BC Employees Front has urged the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, to direct the Education Department and Punjab Technical University to allow students in the reserved category to seek admission to colleges, now that the massive fee hike has been rolled back.

Mr Charan Singh Halwara, convenor of the front, said hundreds of students had not been able to seek admission to various engineering colleges after the state government had hiked the fees.

The hike was so steep that even students who had cleared the entrance test had to drop the idea of joining, which had resulted in a large number of seats in various university courses remaining vacant.

Many students had not even attended the July 25 counselling session, he said.

He said the government should now ask the university to advertise for filling the reserved seats now that the fees had been reduced.

A delegation had called on the university authorities to tell them that the future of hundreds of students was at stake even after the rollback.

Mr Halwara said the PTU had now decided to fill all vacant reserved-category seats from the general category.

The seats, he said, had been listed in the university schedule and would be filled after August 8. A large number of SC/ST seats are vacant in engineering colleges across the state.

In case there was no taker even after this special chance to students in the reserved category, the organisation would have no objections if the seats were filled from the general category, he said.

BCM kids showcase their talent
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 3
To showcase the innate talent of the students from BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, a talent search contest was organised at Swami Dayanand Hall of the school here yesterday.

Students of Class XI presented song and dance items and mesmerised the audience. The hall was tastefully decorated and packed to the capacity. The atmosphere was charged in the hall as the participants danced to the foot-tapping music of various Hindi, Punjabi and English popular numbers.

Ms Parmjit Kaur, Principal, appreciated the students’ efforts and motivated them to further hone their talents. The judges had a tough time selecting the winners. Finally, in dance category, Jasmine of Class XI (arts group) clinched the first prize, Vidhu of class XI (arts group) stood second.

In the song category, Parul of Class XI (medical group), Rohan of Class XI (non-medial) and Juhee of class XI (non-medical group) stood first, second and third, respectively.

A special prize for ‘Best in Compering’ was given to Rohan of Class XI.

The kindergarten section of the school, meanwhile, invited grandparents to spend an evening with them on Saturday.

The enthusiastic grandparents reached the school and games had been organised for them. They also participated in an awareness quiz regarding their grandchildren.

The youngest grandparents were selected and awarded and lucky draws were held.

DEO on inspection spree
Our Correspondent

Amloh, August 3
As teachers in government schools are better qualified than their counterparts in private schools, they should provide better education to the students. The teachers should be punctual in their duties, as they are role model for students, said Mr Dev Singh, District Education Officer (DEO Elementary), Fatehgarh Sahib, while addressing a meeting at the local Elementary School here yesterday. The meeting was attended by 184 teachers of Amloh block. Good teachers always command respect from their students and their parents, he maintained.

Talking to mediapersons the DEO said the attendance of teachers in schools would be ensured. On the first day of his assuming the charge as the DEO on July 22, he visited eight schools. Till date he has visited 53 schools. Saturday which is a closed day for offices, he utilised for inspection of schools.

Eighteen posts of ETT, 10 of head teacher and three of centre head teacher were lying vacant in the block, said Mrs Raj Kumari, Block Primary Education Officer, here. The DEO assured her that the posts would be filled at the earliest. The DEO said all pending cases of teachers would be decided and he will devote his holidays for this purpose.

Primary teachers to move court
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 3
The Primary/Elementary Shiksha Bachao Front has decided to file a writ petition in the high court against the new education policy of the government under which primary, middle, high and secondary schools had been clubbed into two sections instead of the earlier four sections. The policy was adopted following a notification issued on April 1. The failure in the “successful” adoption of the policy has caused disappointment among teachers who say that in spite of 16,000 vacancies, the government had not appointed the teacher Primary teachers of eight units of the front held a meeting at Chattar Singh Park in Model Town today.

Uniforms distributed among needy students
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 3
As many as 200 school children, drawn mainly from government schools at Jawahar Nagar Camp and Kundan Puri, were given school uniforms by the Ram Sharnam Ashram, Kitchlu Nagar, here today.

The uniforms were distributed by Shri Naresh Soni ji after he delivered a discourse on Shrimadbhagwatgita on the occasion of the beginning of a recitation of the holy epic at the ashram today. Shri Soni told the gathering that the ashram would extend all possible help to needy schoolchildren. He urged the gathering to imbibe the teachings contained in the Gita.