Kerala school fitness: Local Self-Government dept engineers exempted from school wiring inspections

A view of the Shiksha Sadan which houses the CBSE at Rouse Avenue in New Delhi. File | This comes a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan sought a detailed report from the CBSE over complaints of technical glitches faced by students during the re-evaluation process.In a notice, the CBSE said that on May 21 and 22, certain technical issues led to incorrect fee deductions in some cases while students were applying for scanned copies of evaluated answer books, it said."In some instances, excess payment was deducted, while in others, lesser amounts were charged," it said.The CBSE said that in all cases of excess payment, the "exact excess amounts shall be refunded to the same payment method which was used for payment"."Similarly, in cases where lesser payment was deducted, candidates shall be informed separately regarding payment of the balance amount, if required," it said."Scanned copies of the evaluated answer books shall be provided in all such cases, without candidates being required to submit fresh requests," it added.Also read: Why CBSE must re-think its on-screen marking systemOn Wednesday (May 20, 2026), Mr. Pradhan took serious cognisance of issues related to server downtime, payment gateway glitches and operational lapses reported during the process, sources said.In a statement issued on Saturday (May 23, 2026), the CBSE had said that it was monitoring all reported issues and taking corrective measures, including extension of timelines and technical interventions."Parents and students are requested not to feel anxious if they have encountered such issues. The very purpose of the verification and re-evaluation mechanism is to address genuine concerns in a structured and fair manner," the statement said.It had said that due to exceptionally high traffic on the portal, some technical disruptions were experienced during peak periods. Published - May 24, 2026 12:46 pm IST

West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh. File | The West Bengal Government has made the singing of 'Vande Mataram' at assembly prayers compulsory in all madrasas with immediate effect, according to an official order. The order by the Directorate of Madrasah Education came nearly a week after the State's BJP Government made singing the national song mandatory in all schools."Vande Mataram will be sung in all schools and madrasas, everywhere. Wherever government funds are used, and government laws apply, the national song must be sung. This is how it is followed across the country," the senior BJP leader told reporters.All Bengal Minority Youth Federation chairman Humayun Kabir on Thursday (May 21) had said madrasas would resist any attempt to impose the order. "Vande Mataram will not be sung in madrasas. The government has no authority to dictate such matters in madrasas," Mr. Kabir said.He claimed that if the directive was enforced, "All Muslims will unite to protest such diktat". Mr. Kabir, a former Trinamool Congress MLA from Bharatpur in Murshidabad district who later floated his own minority outfit, also referred to recent anti-encroachment demolition drives in parts of the State and elsewhere in the country."I will not protest against the removal of illegal encroachments. But I will oppose the mistreatment of Muslims," he said. Published - May 22, 2026 12:21 pm IST

The National Council of CBSE Schools has said that school management committee (SMC) guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education are not applicable to private and unaided schools that do not receive any aid or grants from the government or local authority concerned for meeting their expenses.The council, in a communication to schools affiliated with the CBSE, said the Union Ministry had made the clarification in the wake of concerns over the implementation of the guidelines, particularly with reference to schools in the unaided sector.The council had raised the matter with Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan and Department of School Education and Literacy Secretary Sanjay Kumar.The Ministry’s clarification came on Thursday. It, however, urged unaided schools to constitute the SMCs to promote transparency, accountability, and participatory governance. Education was a shared responsibility of the government, schools, parents, and the community. Strengthening collaboration among stakeholders was essential to improving functioning of schools and ensuring better learning outcomes for children, the clarification said.The council expressed hope that the clarification would provide unaided schools a better understanding of compliance requirements. Published - May 21, 2026 08:26 pm IST

Teachers distribute sweets to students after the Class 10 board examination results were declared, in Salem on Wednesday | Lakshmi Narayanan Tamil Nadu recorded a pass rate of 94.3% in the Class 10 State board examinations, according to the results announced by School Education Minister Rajmohan in Chennai on Wednesday (May 20, 2026). This year’s pass percentage surpassed the previous year’s 93.8%.While Pudukottai topped the State with a pass percentage of 97.57%, Sivaganga came second with 97.54%, followed by Thanjavur at 97.41%. However, the total number of students who appeared for the exams has come down from the previous year: while 8,71,239 students wrote the exams last year, only 8,70643 appeared this year.Girls outshine boysAs many as 4,19,891 girls and 4,01,214 boys from 12,467 schools appeared for the exams. Girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 96.47% as against 92.15%. As many as 11,174 students did not write the exams.The School Education Minister congratulated the students, teachers, and parents on the Class 10 results and stressed that education is foundationally significant for Tamil Nadu and will continue to be so.Out of the 12,467 schools in the State, including private and aided institutions, 5,171 schools recorded 100% pass. Of them, 1,931 are government schools. As many as 10,476 students scored centum in science, while 3,336 scored 100 in social science. In Tamil, only 34 students scored a centum. In mathematics, 3,194 students scored a centum; in the previous year, the number of students who scored 100 was 1,996.This year, private schools outperformed others with a 98.14 pass percentage; girls-only schools came second with 96.42%. As many as 13,292 candidates with disabilities wrote the exams, and 11,416 of them passed. Out of the 370 prison inmates who appeared for the exams, 354 passed.The Directorate of Government Examinations said that students could appear for the Class 10 supplementary exams from July 8, and those who clear them would be eligible for higher education from this academic year.Students can apply to download a scanned copy of their answer sheets at their schools and get their provisional marksheet from May 22. The revaluation application will be open on June 17. Published - May 20, 2026 11:39 am IST

The T.N. SSLC exams were held from March 11 to April 6. Image for representation only | The exams were held from March 11 to April 6. Here is how you can check your results and download your marksheets: Step 1: Visit the official results portal: tnresults.nic.in. Step 2: Look for the link that reads TN SSLC Results 2026 on the homepage and click on it. Step 3: A new login page will open. Enter your registration number/hall ticket number and your date of birth. Step 4: Click on the ‘Submit and get results’ button. Step 5: Your Tamil Nadu Class 10 result scorecard will be displayed on the screen. Step 6: Download the page and print out of a copy of the provisional marksheet for immediate reference.WhatsApp way to download resultsA direct WhatsApp service has been launched to bypass heavy website traffic.Here’s how you can download your marks through WhatsApp: Step 1: Save the official number 7845252525 on your smartphone. Step 2: Open WhatsApp and send a simple message saying ‘Hi’ to this number. Step 3: From the automated options provided, select Directorate of Government Examinations and choose Class 10/SSLC. Step 4: Enter your examination number and date of birth when prompted.Step 5: Your detailed result will be shared with you instantly inside the chat window. Published - May 20, 2026 09:47 am IST

Over 94,000 students scored above 90%, with more than 17,000 candidates securing marks above 95% in the CBSE Class 12 Board results. File | They maintained that it is an internationally accepted norm which enables “transparent evaluation”.The Board has reduced the revaluation and answer sheet verification charges to ₹100, the Ministry said.The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) released the Class 12 board examination results which recorded a slight dip in the overall pass percentage in 2026 in comparison to last year. The national pass percentage stands at 85.20%, a drop of 3.19% from last year’s 88.39%.At a press conference, School Education Secretary, Ministry of Education, Sanjay Kumar said: “98 lakh sheets scanned were for class 12, three levels of security were followed during the process. It was found that despite repeated scanning, there were still some legibility issues because the ink used in some answer sheets was of a very light colour. Even after scanning, those scripts could not be made fully legible.”“In such cases, the examiners were instructed to evaluate the scripts manually and award marks accordingly. More than 13,000 such answer sheets were separately identified and manually checked. After manual evaluation, the marks obtained were entered into the system,” Mr. Kumar added.Revaluation costs reducedThe Ministry also announced that the costs for revaluation of the answer sheets have also been reduced to ₹100 from ₹700 and ₹500, respectively.“The CBSE has decided this time that if students wish to view their answer sheets, they can do so by paying a fee of ₹100 instead of ₹700. If they want verification or validation of the answer sheet, that too will cost Rs 100 instead of Rs 500. If they want any particular answer rechecked, the fee will be ₹25 per question,” Mr. Kumar said.“We have decided that if during re-evaluation, a student’s marks increase, then the amount paid for re-evaluation will be refunded to the student,” he said.A total of 17,68,968 students appeared in the CBSE board examinations for Class 12. Over 94,000 students scored above 90%, with more than 17,000 candidates securing marks above 95%.Among the regions, Trivandrum leads the charts with a staggering 95.62% pass rate, followed closely by Chennai and Bengaluru. Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh has the lowest pass percentage at 72.43%.With PTI inputs Published - May 17, 2026 02:18 pm IST

A Class 8 student drowned in the Thevara-Konthuruthy backwaters here on Friday afternoon.The deceased was identified as Asher Antony, 13, son of Martin, a native of Nettoor. The boy was reportedly swept away by strong currents when he was swimming.The body was found by divers from the Fire and Rescue Services after an hour-long search. The body was shifted to the Ernakulam General Hospital. Published - May 16, 2026 02:21 am IST

A view of Supreme Court of India. File | A Bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta said the issue was within the domain of the Ministry of Education, and the court need not intervene for now.The petition filed by petitioner-advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay sought a direction to declare that “any institution which imparts religious instructions to promote any religion is covered under Article 26(a) and not under Articles 19(1)(g) or Article 30(1) of the Constitution”.Article 26(a) is one of the ‘freedom-of-religion’ rights. It says that a religious denomination or ‘any section thereof’ would have the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes. This, if done, would mean that schools imparting religious instruction would be subject to the restrictions of public order, health and morality.The petition has argued that schools which impart religious instructions must not come under the right to profession or occupation enshrined in Article 19(1)(g), nor should they be brought within the ambit of the right given to minority communities to establish and administer “educational institutions”. The petition has clearly sought a dichotomy based on whether or not religious instruction was part of a school’s curriculum. It is not clear where schools imparting both secular and religious education, latter being left to the choice of the students, would fit.Article 30(1) allows minority religious communities to establish educational institutions which impart secular and religious education. The Article reads as, “All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice”.The petition said the court must declare that ‘educational institutions of their choice’ in Article 30(1) should be interpreted as ‘secular/professional educational institutions of their choice’ and not ‘religious educational institutions of their choice’.Mr. Upadhyay said the Centre must have a mechanism to “register, recognise, supervise and monitor institutions imparting education to children up to 14 years”. “This is an issue of national security as young kids form the future of the nation, and can be brainwashed/manipulated in unregistered institutions,” the petition said.It also raised doubts if the quality of education could be ensured by unregistered and unrecognised institutions.“The safety and security of children is paramount. It is the State’s onus to prevent trafficking of children by unregistered and unrecognised institutions at the threshold,” the petition said. Published - May 11, 2026 02:24 pm IST

CHENNAI:The Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, Tamil Nadu, has reported a 98.33% pass percentage in the Class XII board examinations. All the three toppers are prisoners lodged in the Central Prison, Palayamkottai.Of the 240 prisoners who wrote the exam, including seven women, 236 passed. Many prisoners secured more than 500 marks out of 600.The Tamil Nadu School Education Department had made necessary arrangements for establishing examination centres within the respective prisons, based on the request of prison officials. P. Vinith stood first with 549 marks. He is serving a 10-year rigorous imprisonment after being convicted in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.T. Manikandan, undergoing life imprisonment in a murder case, came second with 531 marks.B. Balu, detained under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, secured the third place with 527 marks.A majority of the prisoners who passed the examination were those convicted in grave crimes like murder, rape, NDPS Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases.“Imparting quality education is among our priorities as part of the reformation and rehabilitation measures. Many educational programmes have been launched in prisons as the prison population consists of many illiterate inmates. Various educational and vocational courses are being offered to the prisoners aimed at empowering them towards life sustaining employment on their release. Elementary Schools are functioning with qualified teachers in all Central Prisons/Special Prisons for Women and District Jail, Pudukkottai,” Additional Director-General of Police, Prisons, K. Shankar, said. Published - May 09, 2026 12:53 am IST