IAS Smita Sabharwal's class 12th marksheet goes viral, she scored highest marks in..., got grade A in..., her pass percentage was...
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) has been conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in India since 1926 and is considered one of the toughest exams in India. The exam serves as the gateway to top government positions like IAS, IPS, IFS, and more, attracting thousands of aspirants every year. There are several civil servants who have gained recognition as well as respect for their work and contributions.
One such officer is IAS Smita Sabharwal. Dubbed the 'People's Officer', this designation came to Smita not just because of her transparent administration, effective governance, and people-friendly schemes, but she strategically leveraged technology and social media to offer changes and innovations to create efficiencies for public service.
Smita cracked the 2000 UPSC CSE examination at 23 and obtained an All India Rank(AIR) of 4 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination. If media reports are to be believed, Smita cracked the UPSC exam in her second attempt.
While her educational qualification is concerned, Smita Sabharwal completed her schooling at St. Ann's High School in Secunderabad, Telangana. In 1995, she took her Class 12th Examination under the Indian School Certificate (ISC) board through Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), New Delhi, receiving a Grade A in SUPW & Community Service. Her subjects were English, Hindi, Economics, Structure of Commerce, and Principles of Accounts – a varied and titaniacally engineered mix that helped to lay the foundations from which she would go on to succeed in the civil services.
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Hindustan Times
30 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
The Girgaon school that has churned out CJIs, litterateurs
MUMBAI: On Sunday, a special visitor will walk the halls of Shirolkar High School in Girgaon. As he strolls through the assembly hall and classrooms, memories of his school days will likely come rushing back – like the time his teacher scolded him and his classmate Vinayak Joshi (who became a CA later) for 'never drawing beyond the triangular mountain and right-angle tree' in art class. Mumbai, India. July 02, 2025: View of Shirodkar High School in the Girgaon area in south Mumbai. Mumbai, India. July 02, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/ HT Photo) (Raju Shinde) That visitor will be Bhushan Gavai, Chief Justice of India, who will become a schoolboy again – just for a day – when he returns to his alma mater. Gavai – among a long list of remarkable alumni – studied at Shirolkar High School for five formative years, from Class 5 to Class 8, before he moved on in 1973. The school, run by the Chikitsak Samuh trust, was established in 1908 and was one of only a handful of premium Marathi schools in Mumbai at the time. Apart from Gavai, the school was alma mater to another former Chief Justice of India, UU Lalit, who completed his matriculation here in 1974, and visited the school a few years ago. Other notable alumni include writer Jaywant Dalvi, music director Yashwant Deo, actor Milind Soman, journalist and Nava-Kal founder Neelkanth Khadilkar, Arjuna Award-winning cueist Anuja Thakur, and senior bureaucrats such as DM Sukhtankar, who is former chief secretary of Maharashtra. The school was established by a physician, Dr Vitthal Sukhtankar, a social worker Jagannath Pilgaonkar, and local journalist Bal Kabadi. The mission was to offer quality education in Marathi during a period of sweeping intellectual and social reform across India. The partition of Bengal had just taken place and national pride was running high. Social reformers and nationalist leaders saw education as a powerful tool to encourage young minds to take pride in their roots and aspire to serve the nation. The school actually has its origins in 1906, when it operated out of Mugbhat Chawl in Girgaon. It was reinvented when the Chikitsak Samuh trust revived a local primary school on the verge of shutting down. The school, Potdar Primary School, had been launched by writer and educator, Vasudev Potdar, from the profits of his printing business. By 1917, Potdar Primary School had grown into a full-fledged high school. Although the medium of instruction was Marathi, it taught mathematics and science in English – an unusual practice in the early 20th century. This bilingual approach kept the curriculum contemporary in an era where English was widespread under British colonial rule. It also helped its students compete in the civil services exams, while opening doors to an education overseas, for those who could afford it. An article published in an old souvenir of the school referred to the visit of education officer, Frank Anderson, to the school in 1909. Anderson remarked, 'I was particularly struck with the kindergarten.' The institution got its present name from philanthropist Vishnu Shirolkar, who was inspired by its track record. The school was regularly producing toppers, like Kashinath Sukhtankar, who bagged the prestigious Jagannath Shankarsheth scholarship in 1921; and Purshottam Lad¸ who stood first in the Bombay Province, the next year. Shirolkar set aside ₹1 lakh in his will to help the institution expand with a new building. The money came through in 1937, and the school renamed after him. Shirolkar High School was truly fulfilling its promise of offering a top-class education. After Independence, the number of students swelled so much that it became the first Marathi school to hold classes in two shifts. 'In the good old days, this school was considered one of the most respected schools in South Bombay. Unfortunately, with the younger generation increasingly opting for an English-medium education, many iconic institutions in Girgaon like Chikitsak, Aryan and Ram Mohan have been falling behind,' says Lalit. 'I owe who I am today to this school and my teachers. They gave me the foundation I needed to grow,' Lalit says, adding, 'I am still in touch with some of my classmates from pre-primary school.' Vinayak Joshi, a batch-mate of Gavai, shares memories from the 1970s. 'I lived in Tarabagh, and although most kids in our area went to Aryan, three of us studied at Shirolkar. Bhushan (Gavai) was very soft-spoken, always smiling. He never flaunted the fact that he came to school in an Ambassador car—a big deal in those days!' The Ambassador belonged to Gavai's father, R S Gavai, a senior politician and, later, founder of the Republican Party of India (Gavai). Joshi, a chartered accountant and who also manages the school's alumni network, says the school set the bar really high. 'Our evaluations were tough, but it made us better. I stood 36th in India in the CA exams, and many others from our batch did well too.' Another distinguished alumnus is DM Sukhtankar, now 93. A former chief secretary in the Government of Maharashtra, Sukhtankar says he specifically chose Shirolkar School when his family moved from Vadodara to Mumbai. 'The education system and the teachers were well known, so I chose this school for Class 9. The bilingual education helped immensely in my higher studies.' The former senior bureaucrat adds that along with his batch-mate Arvind Dev, he cracked the UPSC exam. 'Dev joined the Indian Foreign Service and I chose the IAS,' he says. Sukhthankar fondly recalls his English teacher Mr Nagnath Pai, and another teacher, HP Paygaonkar, as formative influences. With more than 800 students on its rolls today, Shirolkar High School, a government-aided institution, has survived the shift to an English-medium education. Chairperson Kishore Rangnekar, who has led the Chikitsak Samuh trust since 2005, says, 'At one point, we had more than 2,000 students. Even as numbers declined, we chose to stick with Marathi medium instead of switching. Today, only Shirolkar and Aryan High School have survived in Girgaon.' He says that Patkar-Varde College in Goregaon, also run by the Chikitsak Samuh, provides financial support to the school. 'Most of our students come from lower-income families. Our alumni sponsor uniforms, books, scholarships and some extracurricular activities. Thanks to them, we have set up a computer lab and have support for sports like kabaddi,' says Rangnekar. This generosity echoes a tradition set by the Chikitsak Samuh, as alumni step up to give back—just as the school itself has supported other institutions in the past. For instance, the Chikitsak Samuh had rescued the Maratha High School, established to educate Dalits and which had Dr B R Ambedkar on its rolls, in 1949. By lending teachers and offering financial support, the trust brought it back from the brink of closure. This year, Shirolkar High School entered a new phase by launching an ICSE section, a strategy to adapt to modern educational demands. 'There is no other Marathi school between Colaba and Girgaon offering the kind of quality education we do,' says Rangnekar. On Sunday, when Gavai returns to the school that shaped him, it will be more than a visit, it will be a homecoming filled with heartfelt reflections.
Hindustan Times
30 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
SCERT revamps Class 1 timetable; Hindi dropped
In a major policy reversal, the Maharashtra State School Education Department has dropped Hindi from the Class 1 curriculum, following widespread backlash against its inclusion as a compulsory third language. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has now released a revised timetable confirming that only Marathi and English will be mandatory for students in Classes 1 and 2. Amid rising protests, the government rolled back its earlier directive. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC) The earlier decision to introduce Hindi from Class 1 had drawn sharp criticism from educationists, language experts, activists, and political leaders, who argued that imposing a third language at such an early stage was detrimental to learning outcomes, especially in a multilingual state like Maharashtra. Amid rising protests, the government rolled back its earlier directive. The revised SCERT timetable removes the Hindi language slot and reallocates that time to co-curricular and physical development subjects, such as Art, Sports, Work Education, and Physical Education. The new structure is intended to support holistic child development and ease academic pressure on young learners. According to the revised schedule, the school day is divided into nine 35-minute sessions from Monday to Saturday, with scheduled breaks and activity periods to maintain engagement and focus. Core academic subjects, particularly Mathematics and Languages, are concentrated in the earlier part of the day, aligning with students' optimal attention spans. Significantly, the plan also emphasises health and activity-based education, featuring dedicated time for Health & Physical Education, Art Education, and Work Education. The Adolescence Education Programme (AEP), focusing on awareness and life skills, has been retained. In total, the weekly instructional time now stands at 990 minutes, distributed over 30 sessions. Saturdays will be used more flexibly, with a reduced academic load and greater emphasis on co-curricular activities to encourage creativity and physical activity.
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
Struggle to ‘defeat Hindi imposition' transcended state boundaries: MK Stalin after Thackeray rally
The struggle to ' defeat Hindi imposition ' has transcended state boundaries, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday. His statement came hours after a ' victory rally ' held in Maharashtra by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray, president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, to mark the state government's rollback of the policy to teach Hindi as a third language in primary schools. 'The language rights struggle, waged generation after generation by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the people of Tamil Nadu to defeat Hindi imposition, has now transcended state boundaries and is swirling like a storm of protest in Maharashtra,' Stalin wrote in a social media post. Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of acting 'lawlessly and anarchically', the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief said the Maharashtra government was forced to withdraw the policy due to fear of the 'people's uprising'. The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. It also comprises the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. 'The enthusiasm and powerful oratory of the victory rally held today in Mumbai under the leadership of brother Uddhav Thackeray against Hindi imposition fills us with immense excitement,' said Stalin. He added that the Union government, which he claimed prioritises the promotion of Hindi and Sanskrit, does not have answers to Raj Thackeray's questions about the third language being taught in schools of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray had announced the joint rally on June 27 to protest against the Maharashtra government's proposal to teach Hindi as the third language to students from Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English medium schools. However, on June 29, the state government withdrew its resolution. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also announced that a new committee had been formed to advise the state on implementing the National Education Policy's three-language formula. Following this, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena decided to hold a joint 'victory rally'. Stalin said on Saturday that the 'uprising in Maharashtra will open' the eyes of those who are 'unaware of the history of numerous Indian languages being destroyed due to Hindi imposition'. 'Won't allow discrimination against Tamil Nadu' The Tamil Nadu chief minister also once again criticised the Union government for withholding funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme for the financial year 2024-'25 to Tamil Nadu. 'We will not allow the discrimination in fund allocation for Tamil Nadu,' said Stalin. The Samagra Shiksha scheme, implemented in 2018, is the scheme through which the Union government provides support for elementary and secondary school education. It resulted from the merger of three schemes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for universal elementary education, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan for secondary and higher secondary schools and Teacher Training Education such as the District Institutes of Education and Training. In April, the Union education ministry had told the Rajya Sabha that Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal received no funds under the central education scheme for 2024-'25. Data shared in the Upper House by Minister of State for Education Jayant Choudhary showed that while Kerala was allocated Rs 328.90 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 2,151.60 crore and West Bengal Rs 1,745.80 crore from the Centre for the current fiscal year under the scheme, no funds had been released to these states as of March 27. Choudhary said that funds under the scheme, which is used for educational components like textbooks, infrastructure upgrades and teacher salaries, were released to states and Union territories based on several criteria. The halt in funding to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal comes against the backdrop of these states refusing to comply with the PM Schools for Rising India, or PM SHRI, scheme. The centrally-sponsored scheme aims to upgrade the infrastructure of schools managed by central, state or regional bodies. However, to avail the scheme's benefits, state governments must first sign a memorandum of understanding with the Centre to implement the 2020 National Education Policy. The 2020 National Education Policy proposes major changes to the curricular structure for school education, claims to promote flexibility in choosing academic streams and emphasises on using the mother tongue as a key medium of instruction in primary school, among other measures. The policy has been criticised by sections of the academic community, for encouraging the privatisation of public institutions. It was also criticised for creating numerous 'exit' options for students, which opponents said would encourage dropouts. Tamil Nadu has repeatedly expressed opposition to the three-language formula in the National Education Policy. The state government said it will not change its decades-old two-language policy of teaching students Tamil and English. The three-language formula refers to teaching students English, Hindi and the native language of a state. It was introduced in the first National Education Policy in 1968 and was retained in the new policy introduced in 2020.
