A sexual harassment complaint filed by 11 students has prompted an inquiry at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), after a professor was accused of making inappropriate and sexually suggestive remarks during viva examinations held in May.

The university’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) has begun examining the allegations and has started recording statements from the students who filed the complaint. The proceedings began after the complaint was formally submitted in May, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The allegations reportedly came to light after the viva examinations held during the first week of May. According to the complainants, the professor allegedly made remarks with sexual connotations during the examinations.

The issue initially surfaced in an unofficial WhatsApp group in the second week of May, when one student shared her experience with other students. Her account reportedly encouraged several others to speak about similar experiences, eventually leading to a formal complaint before the ICC.

One of the allegations made by a complainant was that the professor suggested students could receive additional marks if they accepted his alleged sexual advances. The allegation is part of the complaint being examined by the university’s internal mechanism.

The timing of the inquiry was also affected by the university's semester break. Students were away for roughly 45 days, but discussions surrounding the allegations reportedly resumed after classes restarted in mid-July. The ICC subsequently called the complainants to record their statements as part of the proceedings.

The professor has been given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. However, according to the report, attempts to obtain his response were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

The complaint has drawn attention to the importance of mechanisms such as the ICC in educational institutions, particularly when allegations involve a significant power imbalance between teachers and students. Viva examinations can directly influence academic outcomes, making concerns about inappropriate conduct during such assessments particularly sensitive.

The latest complaint also comes against the backdrop of an earlier sexual harassment case involving a senior faculty member at the university.

For the students involved, the formal complaint represents a move from private conversations among peers to an institutional process. The ICC's proceedings are expected to examine the allegations, record the statements of those involved and consider the evidence before reaching any conclusion.

At this stage, the allegations remain under investigation, and the professor has not publicly responded to the accusations. The outcome of the ICC proceedings will determine what further action, if any, is warranted.

For the children attending a primary school in Bihar’s Madhubani district, going to class meant sitting on a dirt floor inside a fragile bamboo hut. During the monsoon, the situation became even more difficult, with the makeshift structure reportedly leaking and posing a safety risk.

The condition of the school came to light during a surprise inspection by Madhubani District Magistrate Anand Sharma in Benipatti block. Seeing students studying in such an unsafe environment, the district administration moved quickly to ensure that their education did not come at the cost of their safety.

Classes at the bamboo-hut site were stopped, and the primary school students were shifted to the nearby Upgraded Middle School Sinuar. The relocation allows the children to continue attending classes in a safer and more permanent setting while the administration works on a long-term solution.

The inspection also highlighted the larger infrastructure challenges faced by schools in remote areas. A school building is more than just four walls and a roof; children need access to basic facilities such as safe drinking water, functional toilets and an environment where they can learn without worrying about their safety.

Following the inspection, the district administration initiated plans for constructing a permanent school building. The proposed facility is expected to include essential amenities, providing students with a more suitable environment for learning.

For the children, the immediate relocation means they no longer have to sit through lessons under a leaking roof or on a dirt floor. More importantly, the move ensures that their education can continue while construction plans are being worked out.

The administration has also indicated that officials will conduct regular and surprise inspections of schools to check infrastructure and basic facilities. Such inspections are intended to identify problems before they become bigger safety concerns and ensure that minimum standards are being maintained.

The incident has once again drawn attention to the gap that can exist between the promise of universal education and the conditions in which some children actually study. While enrolment and attendance remain important, the quality and safety of the learning environment are equally crucial.

The swift action following the inspection offers some relief to the students and their families. However, the permanent school building will be the real test of whether the temporary intervention leads to lasting change.

For now, the children have a safer place to learn. The administration’s next challenge is to ensure that the promise of a permanent school does not remain just a plan on paper.

Students seeking transparency in CBSE board exam evaluation have received an important clarification after the Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to follow the Right to Information (RTI) Rules, 2012, while providing copies of answer scripts.

The CIC has said that CBSE must charge only the prescribed fees when students seek photocopies of their answer sheets under the RTI Act. It has also recommended changes to a CBSE circular that restricts students from seeking verification or revaluation after obtaining their answer books through RTI.

The matter came before the commission after a Class 10 student sought copies of answer sheets, citing the high cost of CBSE's regular re-evaluation process. The student had also raised concerns about the difficulty of the Class 10 Mathematics Standard Set 3 paper, moderation and deductions in marks.

According to the application, obtaining photocopies of answer sheets for five subjects through the regular CBSE process cost Rs 2,500. Verification required another Rs 2,500, while further review could cost Rs 100 per question. The total expense, the student pointed out, could reach around Rs 10,000.

The student therefore approached CBSE under the RTI Act, 2005, seeking copies of the answer sheets at the applicable RTI fee. The board's Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) later informed the student that the answer books had been sent by email after the required fee was paid.

However, the matter did not end there. The student subsequently raised questions about blank pages in the answer books, the mathematics moderation policy and the evaluation of the paper.

During the CIC proceedings, CBSE referred to its May 19, 2025 circular, which allows students to obtain answer-book copies under RTI but states that verification or revaluation cannot be sought through the RTI route.

The CIC objected to this restriction. It observed that obtaining an answer sheet through RTI should not, by itself, prevent a candidate from using CBSE's separate process for verification or revaluation.

The commission also referred to Section 22 of the RTI Act, which gives the transparency law overriding effect over provisions that are inconsistent with it. It cited a 2019 Supreme Court judgment in ICSI vs Paras Jain, which held that remedies under institutional rules and those available under the RTI framework can operate independently.

The CIC has therefore directed CBSE to provide answer scripts requested under RTI while charging fees strictly in accordance with the RTI Rules, 2012. It has also recommended that CBSE review and amend its May 19 circular to ensure that its provisions remain consistent with the RTI Act.

For students and parents, the order could be significant. It reinforces the principle that access to an evaluated answer sheet and the right to pursue available examination remedies should not automatically become mutually exclusive.

Maharashtra’s engineering and technical colleges are facing closer scrutiny after the State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell found several irregularities in admissions conducted against seats left vacant after the main Centralised Admission Process (CAP) rounds.

A scrutiny of institute-level admissions found that less than half of the colleges examined had followed the prescribed norms. The violations ranged from incomplete admission records and questionable EWS claims to colleges allegedly failing to act on applications received through the CET Cell’s portal.

In some cases, the number of applications received by a college was found to be almost exactly the same as the number of seats available. Such patterns have raised concerns over whether admissions were being conducted strictly on merit, as required under the institute-level counselling process.

The CET Cell also found instances where students were admitted under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota without valid EWS certificates. In other cases, colleges had failed to maintain proper records of the admission process. At least three colleges reportedly did not respond to applications submitted through the CET Cell portal.

With the 2026-27 admission cycle approaching, the CET Cell has decided to introduce additional monitoring measures to prevent such irregularities.

Colleges conducting institute-level admissions for vacant seats will now be expected to follow the rules specified in the admission brochure strictly. Admissions can begin only after all CAP rounds have concluded, and vacant seats must be allotted to eligible candidates according to merit.

The process will also come under the watch of observers from nearby government colleges. Principals or senior faculty members may be assigned to monitor key stages, including document verification, preparation of merit lists, fee collection and seat allotment. These observers will be required to submit daily compliance reports.

The CET Cell has also mandated CCTV coverage of document verification and seat allotment. Colleges will have to preserve the recordings so they can be examined during audits, inspections or investigations following student complaints.

To make the process more transparent, colleges must publish their admission rules and procedures on their websites. Merit lists must also be displayed on the notice board and website rather than being kept solely within institutional records.

Students can apply directly to a college or submit an institution-level option form through their CAP login. Colleges are required to consider both categories together while preparing the final merit list.

Institutions must additionally maintain daily records of students and accompanying parents or others who visit for admission, along with details of candidates who are ultimately admitted. The information must be shared with the CET Cell or Admissions Regulating Authority (ARA) as required. Once a seat is confirmed, it must also be updated on the CAP portal immediately.

The CET Cell has cautioned students and parents against approaching agents or private “counsellors” promising admissions before CAP rounds are completed. Candidates have been advised to rely only on official CET Cell communication and avoid unverified social media posts and forwarded links.

For colleges, the message is equally clear: violations of admission rules could invite administrative as well as legal action. The new system of observers, CCTV monitoring, daily records and mandatory merit-based admissions is aimed at closing loopholes and making the final stage of MHT CET admissions more transparent.

In a major policy shift, the Delhi government has done away with the rank-capping system for admission to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) which allowed candidates to compete for vacant seats after the counselling rounds. Previously, the university had a cut-off rank policy for various programmes. Under this, those who had a higher rank than the cut-off were not considered for admission even though there were vacant seats at many institutes.

With the removal of the policy, eligible candidates with lower ranks who had previously been denied admission will now get an opportunity to fill up the vacant seats. The issue of vacant seats in the colleges affiliated to GGSIPU has been a matter of concern for the government in recent years.

According to university data, a total 29,153 seats have stayed vacant over the last three sessions.While the university had a sanctioned intake of 39,398 students for 2023-24, only 27,482 admissions were recorded leaving behind 11,916 vacant seats. The number of vacant seats came down to 8,512 in 2024-25 where the total intake was 40,604. Vacancies have, again, climbed up to 8,725 for 2025-26 against a total intake capacity of 42,749.

A committee constituted in April to look into the recommendations of the Narayanaswamy Committee, admission guidelines and regulations for self-financing colleges in the city was asked to review the issue of vacant seats. It met with representatives of GGSIPU and self-financing college associations and came out with observations that said the vast majority of seats that went vacant in the last three years represented the underutilization of the infrastructure and resource base of the system.The committee recommended scrapping off the existing rank capping policy to enhance participation in the admission process.

The Directorate of Higher Education has now issued notice of removal of rank cap for the ongoing 2026-27 admission process as also subsequent admission cycles. The Delhi government has simultaneously approved a new system of physical spot counselling for vacant seats.

The same procedure is used in Delhi Technological University (DTU), Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) in this regard.Under the new system of spot counselling, only those candidates who report physically for spot counselling on a particular day would be considered for admission.

A merit list was prepared from these candidates and vacant seats would be filled according to the merit. The idea is that it would give second chance to any candidates who missed out on a seat during regular counselling and at the same time reduce the number of vacant seats in IP University and affiliated colleges.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has set an ambitious target for expanding the network of Vidya Bharati schools, announcing that the state will set up at least 1,000 institutions in a year.

Vidya Bharati is the education wing connected with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the chief minister said during an event celebrating the organisation's anniversary at Kolkata's Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture that it should be set in every district, municipality and panchayat in West Bengal.

The Chief Minister said that Vidya Bharati should take a bigger role in spreading what he called 'nationalistic learning'. West Bengal currently has more than 300 Vidya Bharati schools, while the organisation runs over 12,000 schools and around 10,000 Bal Sanskar Kendras in India.

Adhikari also announced a plan for a massive restructuring of the state's education administration, saying that the current school education, higher education, technical education and minority education departments would be brought together. Under his proposal, madrassa education would no longer have its own separate administrative arrangement.

Adhikari warned educational institutions of withdrawing government financial assistance and other support if they did not comply with the mandatory singing of the full version of Vande Mataram during school prayers.

Speaking about the programme, the Chief Minister said his government is working to incorporate Indian culture, traditions, patriotism and nationalist values in the educational system. He also said that he is critical of the education policies of previous governments and that reforms are needed to strengthen the state's educational and cultural foundations.

The announcements are likely to spark a wide debate about the role of ideological and cultural education in schools, especially regarding the proposed expansion of RSS-linked Vidya Bharati institutions and the government's suggested restructuring of education departments.