Only 8 % of Indians go for higher education

Only eight percent of Indian students finishing school go for higher education - compared to 20 per cent in China - and the country needs 1,500 new universities in the next seven years to bridge the shortfall of skilled workers, India’s Knowledge Commission has said.
The 82nd annual conference of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) [...]

17 million children in India work out of compulsion

Children’s Day under the shadow of the rape of childhood
We observe November 14, the birthday of the first Prime Minister of India, Chacha Nehru as Children’s Day. But a look at the condition of children in India makes one question the significance of November 14?  Do we really cherish our future citizens?
THE DEFINITION OF a [...]

Absent teachers resulting in 22.5 % education funds India

A classroom struggle
Schools be damned. That seems to be the only message that keeps getting hammered with every disheartening report on the status of schooling in India. If last week it was the severe step of having to file FIRs against teachers in the face of a staggering number of cases of abuse of children, [...]

21.9 million disabled in India, 2.13 % of the total population

Enabling the 21.9 million disabled persons in India
With India signing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, laws pertaining to the disabled are likely to undergo a dramatic change. V. Kumara Swamy reports
A fortnight ago, NGO activist Rajiv Ranjan was denied permission to board a flight from Chennai to New Delhi [...]

54 % Indians back UN probe on Human rights abuses in India

Majority of Indians are likely to support an investigation by United Nations on human rights violations in india, a survey result released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) of Philippines said Monday. 54 % Indians welcomed UN probe on Human rights abuses in their own country while only 29 % opposed to such an action.
Globally, [...]

Indian teachers ‘purify’ low caste students with cow urine

Mumbai, April 22, 2007 ,
Indian teachers have been sprinkling cow urine on low-caste students to purify them and drive away evil.
In India, millions of people formerly known as “untouchables” remain oppressed at the bottom of the ancient Hindu caste system.
The Times of India reported yesterday that upper-caste headteacher Sharad Kaithade ordered the ritual after taking [...]

Two out of every three children in India are physically abused

Two out of every three children in India are physically abused, according to a landmark government study.
Commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the study says 53% of the surveyed children reported one or more forms of sexual abuse.
This is the first time the government has done such an exhaustive survey on the [...]

46 per cent Indians believe ghosts exists, 24 percent consult a palmist

93 per cent Indians believe in God
New Delhi, January 24, 2007
Here are some common beliefs about religion — Indians used to be very religious but no longer are, religion is the domain of women and the elderly, and educated and urbane India has no time for religion.
If you also thought so, it is time you [...]

80 percent of Indians questioned “God had a human form”

India sees God as creator, not controller - report
Sun Nov 26, 2006
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Most Indians perceive God as a macro-manager responsible for controlling things like the earth’s rotation, rather than being in charge of the actions of humans on a day-to-day basis, a survey said on Saturday.
According to a poll conducted for the [...]

India flunks UNESCO test in child education

Toufiq Rashid, Indian Express,October 26, 2006
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 25: While the Sachar Committee report highlighted the worsening education indices for the Muslim community in India, a Unesco report released in Paris has more bad news for the education sector in the country.
The report gives India minus points (-1.7) in reducing the number of illiterates among [...]