Deepa Sharma Sood, a senior correspondent in Ludhiana, reports on education and health.
Articles by Deepa Sharma Sood
MHRD to visit govt schools to review mid-day meal scheme
A team from the ministry of human resource and development (MHRD) is going to visit government schools to inspect proper functioning of the mid-day meal scheme in Ludhiana from January 23 to 25.
Updated on Jan 22, 2014 06:48 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
CBSE not to send admit cards, list of candidates through post
In order to achieve maximum accuracy and timely receipt of data pertaining to list of candidates and admit cards of Classes 10 and 12 for the 2014 school examinations, CBSE has decided not to send the printed lists of candidates.
Updated on Jan 22, 2014 12:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Fog disrupts rail traffic; trains, flights cancelled
Rail traffic remained disrupted on the second consecutive day due to heavy fog in the city on Thursday. The temperature dipped to 12.6 degree Celsius, 6 degrees below normal. Several passengers cancelled their tickets because of trains running late by several hours.
Updated on Jan 16, 2014 07:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Food lovers get to taste wide variety of cuisines
Sea Fish Kuruma, a dish from Kerala was a hit among the visitors as 200 pieces were sold on the second day of the national youth festival on the Punjab Agricultural University Campus on Monday.
Updated on Jan 14, 2014 09:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Surgeon's office uses charts to create awareness about eye donation at fest
The civil surgeon's office has set up a stall to make people aware about eye donation and other health-related topics. They distributed pamphlets among people and displayed charts to create awareness about various topics such as cancer, eye donation and dengue on the second day of the fest on the PAU campus on Monday.
Updated on Jan 13, 2014 09:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
CBSE asks schools to send feedback on bullying
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked the affiliated schools to send a feedback to the board regarding bullying in schools. The board says the survey is an important need-assessment component which would help the CBSE understand more about the issue of bullying in schools, and subsequently design methodology to address the concern effectively.
Updated on Jan 10, 2014 12:09 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Teachers pay to meet school electricity bills in absence of funds from state
Owing to shortage of funds, the government primary and middle schools in the district, are finding it hard to pay their electricity bills. During a visit to a few government schools by the HT team, the school in charges said they were paying electricity bills from their own pocket every month.
Updated on Jan 07, 2014 08:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Power cuts hit students during exam
Students of Government Primary School, Vishkarma Town, appearing for exams are literally feeling the heat, not because of the exam pressure but due to massive power cuts. Due to frequent power cuts, students here are finding it tough to take exams in the dark.
Updated on Jan 03, 2014 09:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Local boy invited for Republic Day parade
Local lad Ritish Goyal, who is among national toppers in Class-12 CBSE examinations in 2012, has been invited to watch the Republic Day parade from Prime Minister's box at Rajpath in New Delhi on January 26. Goyal is one of the meritorious students from all over India to receive this invitation from the union ministry of human resource and development.
Updated on Jan 03, 2014 08:59 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludiana
Efforts on to implement RTE Act effectively
Efforts are on to implement Right to Education Act effectively in district schools, said the district project coordinator of the act Anil Matharoo. Talking to Hindustan Times, Anil Matharoo, district coordinator said, “We want to implement the act effectively in government schools and for that we need to maintain the teacher pupil ratio in government schools. Deepa Sharma Sood reports
Updated on Jan 01, 2014 09:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Govt schools await DGSE order, to start pre-boards from next week
The government school heads in the district are starting the pre-board examination of Class 10 and 12 from next week, however, till now the schools have received no direction from director general school education (DGSE) office to conduct the examination.
Updated on Dec 31, 2013 06:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
PU regional centre-cum-extension library to get new look
PU regional centre-cum-extension library is planning to provide the facility of reading e-books to students for which the authorities have come up with a reading room in the library. Talking to Hindustan Times, Hardiljit Singh Gosal, director, said, "Recently we have come up with a reading room for the students as it was a long pending demand of the students and the room is open from 9am to 9pm.
Updated on Dec 24, 2013 07:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
School heads finding tough to provide school uniform in Rs 400
Due to delay in release of funds by the Sarav Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to provide school uniform to the students of Class 1 to 8- the school heads are finding tough to purchase school uniform at pricey rates due to chilly weather.
Updated on Dec 22, 2013 07:22 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
CBSE doubles annual sports fee
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has doubled the annual sports fee for CBSE-affiliated schools. Now, schools would have to pay Rs 10,000 to the board. Earlier, the schools were sending Rs 5,000 to the CBSE's regional offices, along with the list of students interested in sports.
Updated on Dec 20, 2013 06:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Fog forces pvt schools to change timings
Due to chilly and foggy weather conditions, several private schools in the city have changed their timings. This news will bring a relief to the parents, students and teachers. Talking to Hindustan Times, Mona Singh, principal of Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, said, "In view of foggy weather, we have changed the school timings, from Friday the school will start at 9 am instead of 8.30 am.
Updated on Dec 19, 2013 07:30 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Teachers to identify out-of-school children
To identify more out-of-school students between 6 and 14 years of age, Director General School Education (DGSE), Punjab, Kumar Rahul, has asked all teachers of government schools to conduct household surveys across the state.
Updated on Dec 16, 2013 05:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Surplus staff at some schools, while posts lie vacant at others others
There are 39 students at Government Middle School (GMS), Turmari, and four teachers have been employed to teach them. At GMS, Kailpur Braich, six teachers teach as many as 66 students. While you may think, there is a surplus of teachers in city government schools, wait till you see the other side of the story.
Updated on Dec 15, 2013 06:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Shortage of Classrooms; 40 govt schools without E-labs
E-laboraties have not been set up due to shortage of classrooms in 40 government schools of the district. Howerver, there are 329 government high and senior secondary schools in the district.
Updated on Dec 13, 2013 10:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Punjab to hold teacher eligibility test on Dec 28
To bring national standards and benchmark of teacher quality in the recruitment process, the Punjab government has decided to conduct the Punjab teacher eligibility test (TET) on December 28. But the government has failed to recruit the teachers who have cleared the test in 2011 and 2013.
Updated on Dec 12, 2013 06:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Punjab state talent search exam on Jan 19
For the students of Classes 8 and 10 who could not clear the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) and National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) examination, there is another opportunity as the State Institute of Science Education is conducting the Punjab State Talent Search Examination on January 19.
Updated on Dec 11, 2013 06:12 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Resource teachers await salaries for past three months
Resource teachers under the inclusive education for the disabled (IED) of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are waiting for their salaries for the past three months.
Updated on Dec 07, 2013 07:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
CBSE to conduct proficiency test for Class 10 in April 2014 board
The Central Board Of Secondary Education (CBSE) is conducting the optional proficiency test for Class 10 students in April 2014. The test is aimed at benchmarking of skills and higher mental abilities of students and motivating students for academic excellence in the respective subjects.
Updated on Dec 03, 2013 06:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Parents worried over MC's plan to come up with parking at GSSS
School staff, and parents, whose wards are studying at Government Senior Secondary School, Multipurpose, are worried with the municipal corporation's decision to come up with a multi-level parking at the school.
Updated on Nov 29, 2013 09:05 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Boards: PSEB to conduct practical exams in Feb
In order to declare the results of Classes 10 and 12 exams in time, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has decided to conduct the practical exams before written exams.
Updated on Nov 28, 2013 06:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Boards: PSEB to conduct practical exams in Feb
In order to declare the results of Classes 10 and 12 exams in time, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has decided to conduct the practical exams before written exams. The board declares the results of Class 12 in mid-May and of Class 10 in the first week of June.
Updated on Nov 28, 2013 12:02 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Doraha govt primary school stops serving mid-day meal
Due to the scarcity of funds, Government Primary School, Doraha, has stopped serving mid-day meal to students from Wednesday onwards. There are 227 students in the school and the school has already spent Rs 20,000 from their pocket to run the scheme.
Updated on Nov 21, 2013 12:36 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Traffic bedlam common in this small hamlet, they want a bus stand now
With no proper bus stand at Hambran village, which is about 20-km away from Ludhiana, commuting has become a problem for residents here. The so-called bus stand at this small hamlet is a room size space, where only few commuters can stand and wait for the bus as there are no seating arrangements.
Updated on Nov 18, 2013 07:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Hambran
20% fee hike in MBA programme worries students
Hike in the fee of MBA programme at Panjab University Regional Centre (PURC) has left the students worried, as the increase is almost Rs 16,000 per semester. Some of the students have even taken education loans and the fee hike is bothering them. Not only this, but the students have also been asked to pay the fee for the first semester (that began in July) as per the hike.
Updated on Nov 15, 2013 08:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Govt primary schools crying for repair
Where one needs a conducive environment to study, students at government primary schools are being deprived of the same.
Updated on Nov 10, 2013 07:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana
Short of funds, 2 schools plan to stop serving mid-day meal
Two government schools in the district - one in Doraha, other in Sahnewal - are planning to stop serving mid-day meal to their students due to shortage of funds.
Updated on Oct 30, 2013 08:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Deepa Sharma Sood, Ludhiana