Parents declare children as orphans to obtain RTE seat
Bengaluru: At its worst, the school admission process is a tough route for parents. They not only face stiff competition, but have to jump over several hurdles to secure a place for their children. In a desperate attempt to obtain seats under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) quota in aided and unaided schools, several parents allegedly fudged documents to show their children had special needs or were orphans or street children.
According to a The Hindu report, Department of Public Instruction discovered this during the verification process.
Of the total 1,095 applications received under the special category, 418 were not eligible to claim this benefit. “Many of them did not have the necessary documents. Even single parents had come forward to claim the benefit,” said an official.
These fraudulent applications have been converted to general applications and will still be a part of the online lottery process. Only 533 applications are eligible to be considered as special cases under the disadvantaged category.
Orphans, migrant and street children, and those affected and living with HIV, transgenders, children with special needs, and children of farmers who committed suicide due to drought are considered under the special category. These children will be given first preference in the online lottery process.
The total number of eligible applications for RTE seats was 1.5 times the demand. About 2.33 lakh applicants are eligible for 1.52 lakh seats. As many as 5,482 applications were rejected as there were discrepancies in their documents.
Textbooks and uniforms
Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, pointed out that the State government will provide State syllabus textbooks to those students admitted under the RTE quota. However, managements of CBSE and ICSE schools will have to provide textbooks and school uniforms for RTE students.
Ms. Rajneesh said a fresh circular would be issued in this regard shortly.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
