The sad shadow Prakriti Lamsal, a 20-year-old Nepali student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar, passed recently has thrown over the campus. This episode started demonstrations and exposed a general culture of harassment and intimidation inside the university. Though anti-ragging rules exist, many events have been documented, usually under cover of political pressures that encourage silence and fear. The way the government has responded to student demonstrations has been characterized by threats of expulsion, therefore silencing voices advocating justice. Official comments on social media sites have shown a resistance to admit institutional responsibility, presenting a picture of an institution in which the search of safety and education is subordinated to power relations.
Tag: student safety
Jaipur’s Pratap Nagar Coaching Hub a Disastrous Education Project
Lying virtually vacant even after its inauguration a year ago, the first state-of-the-art coaching hub, Pratap Nagar, was established in Jaipur with a set aim to centralize and upgrade the coaching industry of competitive exams. Actually, designed with the intentions of safety concerns and overcrowding, no well-established coaching center or student seems interested in using this hub even after its intended amalgamation. With high prices, less support from infrastructure, and the reluctance of the existing institutes, it is hard not to believe the fact that factors of high prices, less support from infrastructure, and the reluctance of the existing institutes be contributing to it. This article understands the reasons why this response was underwhelming-from political mismanagement to financial hurdles to an entrenched coaching ecosystem in Gopalpura-and looks at what needs to be done toward a realisation of the hub’s wide vision.