Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advice to students that they should reduce their stress by celebrating examinations like festivals has not gone down well.

“Do not make these exams about pressure,” the prime minister said during his Mann Ki Baat radio show on Sunday. “Appear for them with a smile.” Exams, he claimed, “have nothing to do with life’s success or failure”.

The response to the prime minister’s statements started coming in almost as soon as the programme ended. Many pointed out that it was difficult to relax when board exam results determined admission to most colleges and so were crucial for the lives and careers of students. “College administrations want over 90% [minimum marks for admission],” said one social media user. “Yeh sab pleasure se thodi milega.” Surely, you can’t get such marks purely from pleasure.

Exam stress is near universal and Twitter users said it was wrong to play it down.

Disconnect between words, actions

Several listeners said Modi’s words did not match his government’s policy decisions that had made the year-end test the most important feature of school education, and added to the list of examinations students already face.
One of these decisions has been to restore the public Class 10 board exam, which will return in 2018 for all schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. The board-based exam had been made optional in 2011, allowing students to instead sit for school-based exams.

In addition, the government is keen on scrapping the no-detention policy – whereby schools cannot fail any child till Class 8 – under the Right to Education Act, 2009. If this happens, even primary-level exams would become serious business as it would enable schools to make struggling children repeat a class. None of this helps battle exam stress.

Education activists pointed out that the government’s decision to restore the public board exam and its intention to amend the no-detention clause would render the policy of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, introduced in 2009 under the education law, pointless. Under this policy, teachers record the progress of children – in scholastic and non-scholastic areas – over time, taking away the tyranny of the year-end exam.

“The Mann Ki Baat speech is all rhetoric,” said Rama Kant Rai of the National Coalition for Education, an umbrella group of organisations working on the right to education. “In the new system, examinations have been made everything. This, despite there being considerable research on stress caused by examinations.”

According to Rai, scrapping the no-detention clause will lead to more stress. “The CCE [Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation] and no-detention policies made the system responsible, and doing away with them will put the pressure back on parents,” Rai explained. “The states have done nothing to ensure CCE worked – teachers were not recruited in sufficient numbers, they were not trained. Now it will once again be up to the parents to do whatever they can to make sure their children pass their exams.”

One Twitter user said, “[We] need more tolerance to failure, better accommodation for different learning levels, plus, exams should not be competitive.”
 

A dig at Modi

With the prime minister making education the subject of his Mann Ki Baat, the quips on his own qualifications were inevitable.

Modi’s bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science, have been the subject of speculation by political rivals, especially the Aam Aadmi Party, which accused him of faking his educational credentials. The university, on its part, has resolutely refused to furnish documents in response to several right to information queries. Earlier this month, a commissioner in the Central Information Commission was transferred days after he ordered Delhi University to disclose the records of BA degrees in 1978 – the year in which Modi is said to have received his degree. The commissioner had also fined a university official for not complying with his order.

Courtesy: Scroll.in

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The university, according to India Today, has argued that the degree of a student was a private document adding that its details could not be made public.

Reacting to the news, Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said that he was now convinced that Modi’s degree was fake.

He tweeted, ” Modi’s degree is surely fake. He’s trying his best to conceal it.”

The Central Information Commission, on 7 January, had directed Delhi University to allow inspection of records related to all the students who had passed BA degree in 1978, the year in which, according to the University, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also cleared the examination.

The Commission rejected the contention of the Central Public Information Officer of the University that it was a third party personal information, saying it finds “neither merit nor legality” in it.

It directed the university “to facilitate inspection of relevant register where complete information about result of all students who passed in Bachelor of Arts, in year 1978 along with roll number, names of the students, father’s name and marks obtained as available with the University and provide certified copy of the extract of relevant pages from the register, free of cost….”

Days later, the Central Information Commissioner, Sridhar Acharyulu, who had issued the order was unceremoniously deprived of HRD responsibility.

RTI applicant Neeraj Sharma had sought to know from the University the total number of students who appeared in Bachelor of Arts, Year 1978, besides result of all students who appeared in the examination along with their roll number, name of the students with father’s name, marks and result pass or failed.

Denying the information, the Central Public Information Officer of the University had responded that the information requested is treated as “personal information of the students concerned, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest”.

Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu, however, said, “With regard to question whether disclosure of such identification related information causes invasion of privacy, or is that unwarranted invasion of privacy, the PIO has not put forward any evidence or explained possibility to show that disclosure of degree related information infringes the privacy or causes unwarranted invasion of privacy”.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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On the evening of January 10, Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) R. K. Mathur issued a notice stating that all complaints and appeals relating to the HRD ministry will now be looked into by Parashar, the Indian Express reported.

While hearing an RTI application by one Neeraj, Acharyulu overturned the DU central public information officer’s (CPIO) decision to deny the information. The university had contended that disclosure of 1978 university records will invade the privacy of the students and the information “has no relationship to any public activity or interest”.

However, Acharyulu, who was hearing an appeal against the university’s decision, said that the university could not provide any evidence or explain how such information causes any “invasion of privacy”, and allowed for inspection of records.

The withdrawal of powers from Acharyulu also appears to be sudden since on December 29, the CIC had issued a notice allowing him to retain the power to intervene in HRD ministry matters.

The year 1978 holds significance since Prime Minister Modi, in his election affidavits, has claimed to have completed his undergraduate degree in that year. There is some speculation in political circles, that, given the fact that Acharyulu was divested of the HRD charge after media reports of his DU decision may mean the shift was prompted by a nudge from outside the Central Information Commission.

Both the BJP and AAP were at loggerheads through most of last year over Modi’s educational qualifications. AAP contended that Modi might have lied about his degrees in his election affidavits. Kejriwal, in fact, went on to write to the CIC alleging that the prime minister is influencing concerned departments to release details about his degrees.

The CIC had then treated this letter as an RTI application and had directed both Gujarat University (GU) and Delhi University to give Modi’s roll numbers to the universities so that they could find out the necessary details.

The BJP, throughout AAP’s attack, had been reticent both in divulging information and in clarifying its position on the matter. However, after the CIC’s intervention, both GU and DU had confirmed that Modi had indeed finished his MA and BA degrees.
Confirming the details in his election affidavits, the degrees showed that Modi completed his BA from Delhi University in 1978 with a third division and finished his MA in ‘Entire Political Science’ with a first division in 1983. Kejriwal and his team retaliated by pointing out discrepancies in the degrees, have suggested some kind of forgery.

AAP leader Ashutosh said that the awardee’s name in the mark sheets and the degree were different, and that names could be changed only through an affidavit. He demanded that the BJP produce the affidavit. He also pointed out that the final year mark sheet was awarded in 1977 while the degree stated that Modi graduated from DU in 1978.

The BJP, however, responded that Modi had failed the examinations in 1977 and had therefore taken the final year exams in 1978, the year the degree was awarded.

The CIC’s order could give AAP yet another opportunity to revive the debate over Modi’s qualifications.

It is in this context that the CIC’s decision to remove Acharyulu from HRD ministry-related tasks assumes political significance.

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He tweeted, “Doesn’t it prove his degree is fake? Why is he trying to hide his degrees?”

Acharyulu, who had earlier ordered the Delhi University to allow inspection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications, lost his responsibility for the ministry of HRD.

According to a report by Indian Express, the order issued on Tuesday evening said that all complaints and appeals related to HRD Ministry will now be looked into by another Information Commissioner Manjula Parashar.

Modi’s degree has been an enigma for quite some time. While his party said that the prime minister had passed his BA exams in 1978 from the Delhi University, they failed to produce credible evidence to substantiate their claims.

The Central Information Commission on 8 January had directed Delhi University to allow inspection of records related to all the students who had passed BA degree in 1978, the year in which, according to the University, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also cleared the examination.

The Commission rejected the contention of the Central Public Information Officer of the University that it was a third party personal information, saying it finds “neither merit nor legality” in it.

It directed the university “to facilitate inspection of relevant register where complete information about result of all students who passed in Bachelor of Arts, in year 1978 along with roll number, names of the students, father’s name and marks obtained as available with the University and provide certified copy of the extract of relevant pages from the register, free of cost….”

RTI applicant Neeraj had sought to know from the University the total number of students who appeared in Bachelor of Arts, Year 1978, besides result of all students who appeared in the examination along with their roll number, name of the students with father’s name, marks and result pass or failed.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

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HRD मंत्रालय सूचना आयुक्त एम. श्रीधर आचार्युलु द्वारा दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय की 1978 के बीए डिग्री रिकॉर्ड की जांच का आदेश सार्वजनिक किए जाने के करीब दो दिन बाद ही मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त आर. के. माथुर ने उनसे (एचआरडी) मंत्रालय का चार्ज छीन लिया है। 
 
जिसके बाद अब मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्रालय से संबंधित सभी शिकायतें व सुझाव अन्य सूचना आयुक्त मंजुला पराशर देखेंगी। उन्हें इसका पूरा चार्ज सौंप दिया गया है। इससे जुड़े सारे फैसले अब वहीं करेंगी। यह आदेश मंगलवार को दिया गया। 
 
आपको बता दें कि मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त (CIC) को यह विशेषाधिकार है कि वह किसी भी आयुक्त को कोई भी विषय सौंप सकता है। यह आदेश काम सौंपने के संबंध में 29 दिसंबर को लिए गए एक अन्य आदेश के कुछ दिन बाद आया जिसमें आचार्युलु को एचआरडी मिनिस्ट्री के चार्ज पर बरकरार रखा गया था। 21 दिसंबर को आचार्युलु ने दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय को वर्ष 1978 में बीए डिग्री पास करने वाले सभी विद्यार्थियों के रिकार्ड की पड़ताल करने का आदेश दिया था।

1978 वही साल है जब विश्वविद्यालय के मुताबिक प्रधानमंत्री मोदी को डिग्री मिली थी। द इंडियन एक्सप्रेस ने सीआईसी आर. के. माथुर से संपर्क साधने की कोशिश की लेकिन बात नहीं हो सकी, वहीं आचार्युलु ने इस पर कोई भी टिप्पणी करने से इंकार कर दिया। 
 
पिछले साल यूनिवर्सिटी ने प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की स्नातक डिग्री के बारे में सूचना के अधिकार (आरटीआई) के तहत जानकारी मांगने वाले आवेदन को अस्वीकार कर दिया था। उस समय कहा गया था, “यह छात्रों की व्यक्तिगत जानकारी से संबंधित है, जिसका खुलासा करने से किसी भी सार्वजनिक गतिविधि या हित से कोई संबंध नहीं है।” हालांकि आयोग ने कहा था कि छात्रों की शिक्षा से संबंधित मामला वर्तमान हो या पूर्व सार्वजनिक हित की श्रेणी में आता है।

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

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The Central Information Commisison has ruled that Delhi University will have to provide a copy of the records of all students who completed their BA degree in 1978 — the year when the university said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cleared the examination.

Last year, the university had denied these records to an RTI applicant, saying that it was the “personal information of the students concerned, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest”.

In another ruling on a related case, the CIC fined the university’s Public Information Officer Rs 25,000 for denying information under RTI on the Prime Minister’s degree on the grounds that the mandatory postal order of Rs 10 was not addressed to the correct authority.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Delhi University's Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) for rejecting an RTI application seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's graduation degree.

The authenticity of Prime Minister Modi’s BA degree was questioned by Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last May. He had claimed that Modi’s degrees were fake. Defending Modi, his party, the BJP, had produced copies of what they said were the Prime Minister’s degrees.

The commission did not find any merit or justification in her argument, stating that the fee was not a material factor to throw out an RTI request.

The Chief Information Commission, M. Sridhar Acharyulu, in a recent order, pulled up CPIO Meenakshi Sahay of Delhi University and said the rejections reminded him of the saying “penny wise, pound foolish”.  In another order dated December 21, the CIC has clearly reasoned how the degrees of those in public authority fall under the public domain. The Commission has clearly said that matters relating to the education of a student — current or former — fall under the category of public information. Several judgements were cited in the 13 page order of the CIC that may be read here.

In this order, the CIC says, “Commission directs the respondent authority, Delhi University, to facilitate inspection of relevant register where complete information about result of all students who passed in Bachelor of Arts, in year 1978 along with roll number, names of the students, father’s name and marks obtained as available with the University and provide certified copy of the extract of relevant pages from the register, free of cost, before 30.12.2016.”

While a copy of the order has been posted on CIC website, the RTI applicant, Neeraj Sharma, said he was yet to receive the records from the university. “I will write to them or go there and inspect the records if that is needed,” said Sharma.

In the case where a fine was imposed on DU's CPIO, the commission was hearing a plea filed by Delhi-based lawyer Mohammad Irsad, whose RTI query seeking inspection of Modi’s degree was rejected on the ground that the Indian Postal Order (IPO) was not marked in favour of the Registrar of the university.

The commission, directing the “public authority” to recover an amount of Rs 25,000 from the salary payable to Sahay, said that after hearing the story that thousands of rupees had been spent in a legal battle for a postal order of Rs 10, “the proverb ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ has to be rewritten as ‘rupee wise and thousand foolish’ “.

Sahay in her defence argued that there was no malice in rejecting the RTI application and that she had to follow the policies laid down by the university. The commission did not find any merit or justification in her argument, stating that the fee was not a material factor to throw out an RTI request.

It said it was “vexed with non response” from the CPIO to a number of its notices and thus found it a fit case to impose penalty.

Calling the CPIO’s action “pathetic”, the commissioner said in the order that “such a simple request for information has been dragged to the level of second appeal, building heaps of documents with multiple files”.

The commission also slammed Delhi University for “spending huge amounts of money and consuming precious time of public servants”, including the commission.

It also asked the “public authority”, without defining it, to facilitate sufficient training to the entire staff, including the CPIO, in the matter of RTI law so that they do not reject applications in a routine manner without application of mind.

The commission recommended that officials be provided with the latest books on the RTI Act as well as classic text books on administrative law. It suggested they should also be given the books “Right to Know” by late professor S.P. Sathe and “Five-point Someone: What Not To Do At IIT” by Chetan Bhagat.

BJP leaders had stated last year that Modi had completed his BA in political science from the distance learning programme of the university in 1978. This was later corroborated by the Delhi University registrar, Tarun Das.

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आयोग ने विश्वविद्यालय की केंद्रीय जन सूचना अधिकारी यह दलील खारिज कर दी कि यह तीसरे पक्ष की व्यक्तिगत सूचना है। उसने कहा कि इस दलील में उसे दम या कोई कानूनी पक्ष नजर नहीं आता है।

सीआईसी ने विश्वविद्यालय को 1978 में कला स्नातक उत्तीर्ण होने वाले सभी विद्यार्थियों के क्रमांक, नाम, पिता के नाम, प्राप्तांक समेत सभी सूचनाएं देखने देने तथा इनसे संबंधित रजिस्ट्रर की संबंधित पेज का प्रमाणित प्रति मुफ्त में उपलब्ध कराने का आदेश दिया।

आरटीआई आवेदक नीरज ने विश्वविद्यालय से 1978 में बीए की परीक्षा में शामिल होने वाले विद्यार्थियों की कुल संख्या, उनके परीक्षा परिणाम :उत्तीर्ण या अनुतीर्ण:, क्रमांक, नाम, पिता के नाम, प्राप्तांक आदि सूचनाएं मांगी थी।

ये सूचनाएं देने से इनकार करते हुए विश्वविद्यालय के केंद्रीय जन सूचना अधिकारी ने जवाब दिया था कि मांगी गयी सूचनाएं संबंधित विद्यार्थियों की निजी सूचनाए है, उसके उद्घाटन का किसी सार्वजनिक गतिविधि या हित से कोई नाता नहीं है।

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