February 9, 2015 – The Metrognome

Municipal schools seeing more dropouts every year

A Praja Foundation White Paper projects a 63.6 per cent retention rate for year 2015-2016, lower than last year’s 70.6 per cent.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It is by now a known reality in Mumbai that most parents are unwilling to send their children to the city’s municipal schools. A recent study by Praja Foundation has revealed that parents are worried about the quality of education provided in the city’s municipal schools, and are hence, unwilling to send their children to these schools.

The Foundation’s White Paper on the state of Municipal schools in Mumbai paints a dismal picture: “In the last five years (2009-10 and 2013-14), 51,649 children have dropped out of the municipal school system, and in the corresponding five years the Municipal budget allocation to the Education Department has more than doubled from Rs 1,255 crore to Rs 2,534 crore. In 2009-10, 10,67,477 children enrolled in Class I in municipal schools, whereas in 2013-14, this dropped to 39,663,” the Report states.

“Infrastructure-wise, BMC schools are 100 per cent compliant. However, when we compare the performance of children studying in BMC schools with those studying in other schools, (Private unaided, private aided and unrecognised), there is a huge difference. In 2013-14, students from municipal schools had a passout rate of 67 per cent compared to 83 per cent for students from other schools in Class X (SSC),” the Report adds, stating further that the highest numbers of dropouts in 2013-14 were in the Hindi medium (17 per cent) and Urdu medium (13.1 per cent).

Praja has also suggested an action plan to tackle the problem:

– More transparency and accountability in the Education Department.

– Empower and strengthen school management committees (SMCs) to improve accountability at the school level.

– Focus on teacher trainings, SMC trainings and capacity building; free teachers from unnecessary administrative duties.

– Rigorous filling out of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) reports and inspection reports. Link reports with performance appraisal of respective teachers.

Read the entire White Paper here.

(Image used for representational purpose only)

Go on a culinary world tour at Ghatkopar

The World Food Festival will feature all the cuisines in the world at one spot – R City Mall in Ghatkopar. On till February 15, 2015.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you’re a fan of world cuisine, you should be making your way to Ghatkopar this week.

R City Mall in Ghatkopar is hosting the World Food Festival from February 7 to 15, 2015, with a delicious and diverse food menu. Visitors to the venue will get the chance to not just sample food from around the world, but also interact with famous chefs.

Apart from the array of food items, there will be also be fun activities to keep visitors occupied, of which the most popular one is learning to cook various dishes at live cooking sessions arranged in the fest.

Vvikas Aroraa, Director Sales and Marketing, Runwal Group said, “At our malls, we constantly endeavour to provide the best experience to our customers with innovative initiatives. Customers at our malls come for world class shopping and entertainment experiences. This Food Festival is a unique way of offering a wide array of cuisines under a single roof.”

Noted food companies are expected to showcase their most popular dishes at the event, and even reveal a few secret recipes. Retailers like Indigo Deli, Punjab Grill, Bowl House, Rajdhani, Banana Leaf, Taco Bell, Yokos, Zaffran and many more are participating in the food festival and offering discounts on their food menu. Few restaurants will set up their live cooking counters, such as Salad and Tiramisu dessert from Sbarro, Malbar curry and appam from Banana Leaf, Thai lemon grass prawns and Burmese Khowsuey from The Bowl House, Mughlai dishes from Zaffran, and Microwave cooking from E-Zone, among others.