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Weekly Update on Education

16 November 2010

Promises renewed on National Education Day
Manjula Pooja Shroff, Daily News & Analysis, November 14, 2010

November 11 is celebrated as the Indian National Education Day as it marks the contributions made by the first education minister, Maulana Azad, of free India. It is only befitting that the ministry of HRD made renewed promises on this day at an international conference in New Delhi.A confluence of 20 countries including Bulgaria, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, foreign participation of 15 presidents from various universities across USA, 20 United Kingdom delegates headed by their minister of education and a team of 17 Canadians, formed a tally of nearly 130 foreign delegates of the 700 participants from across India.

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India, UK for mutual recognition of professional degrees
Prashant K. Nanda, Mint, November 12, 2010

India and the UK on Friday decided to work towards recognising each other’s professional degrees in management and engineering and significantly increase the flow of students from the UK to India. David Willetts, UK minister for universities and sciences, said while over 40,000 Indian students are pursuing education in his country, India only hosts around 500 British students.“There is a huge gap and we want this to increase student flow both for education and summer placement,” Willets said after a meeting with human resource development minister Kapil Sibal.

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Rural kids voice their disappointment over lack of schools in their vicinity
The Times of India, November 15, 2010

On the occasion of Children’s Day, five representatives from different parts of the state spoke at a children’s press conference organised by Child Rights and You (CRY) on how education is inaccessible due to the distance, sometimes as great as 10 km one way between their villages and the nearest school. Under the Right to Education Act, it is mandatory that there is a school operating at a distance of every 1 km.

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D.C. offers lesson in Charter Schools 101
Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post, November 15, 2010

The next crop of would-be D.C. charter school operators gathered in a gray conference room on 14th Street one night last week, more than 30 hopeful men and women, each with his or her own pitch. ”Hello,” began one woman. “I am a founder of Believe Charter School. We believe every child in D.C. has the right to a high-quality, first-class education.” “Hi,” another woman began, offering her idea. “I’m soft-spoken. Sorry. I believe it’s important to prepare kids adequately and empower them.”

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Top state schools to expand under Coalition plan
Graeme Paton, The Telegraph, November 15, 2010

The best primaries and secondaries will be able to take more pupils – while unpopular schools see numbers fall – as part of Coalition proposals to boost standards and cut bureaucracy. An education White Paper published next week will set out plans to switch to a “national funding formula” for all state schools. Schools will receive roughly the same amount for each pupil in a move that will reduce the amount of power wielded by local authorities over education budgets.

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In India, the World’s Largest School Lunch Program
Nilanjana Bhowmick, Time, November 5, 2010

Narasimha Das is on his way to feed 169,379 hungry children. A devotee of Lord Krishna, Das oversees operations in an industrial-sized kitchen in the Hindu religious town of Vrindaban, around three hours drive outside New Delhi. As he reaches work, the pebbles on the facility’s driveway crunch softly in the semi-darkness of a nippy October morning.It’s only 3 a.m., but the kitchen, run by the Akshaya Patra Foundation, already exudes the warm fragrance of freshly baked chapatti. Thirty men in overalls and mouth and hair guards silently labor over tons of wheat flour and dough. They have less than five hours to make tens of thousands of rounds of Indian flatbread to be loaded onto the heat-insulated, dust-free delivery vans and transported to 1,516 schools in and around Vrindaban..

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CAG heat on 25 city schools for fee hike
Ritika Chopra, India Today, November 14, 2010

Parents protesting against the sudden hike in tuition fee across private schools in Delhi on account of the Sixth Pay Commission have been vindicated. A tell-all audit report of 25 unaided schools submitted recently by the Comptroller Audit General of India (CAG) corroborates the gnawing suspicion among parents that the fee hike was indeed unjustified.According to the report – that was submitted to the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary of Education and the Lieutenant Governor in the first week of November – several sought- after institutions should not have footed the bill of salary arrears to the parents as they had adequate reserve funds to pay the increased remuneration of teachers..

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Computers help win back students in rural TN
The Times of India, November 12, 2010

In Tamil Nadu’s rural pockets, a small group of teachers are helping make a difference in schools with the use of computers. Students in these areas are motivated to remain in school due to technology, say five teachers who are regional winners of Microsoft’s India Innovative Educators’ Forum 2010. Computers have helped stem the drop-out rate in their schools, they add.“When I joined as a primary school teacher in 2005, there were only four students at my school and we had no electricity. The government had passed orders for the school to be closed due to its poor strength. I underwent training with Microsoft for 12 days in 2006 supported by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and bought a laptop at personal expense for use in the classroom. The strength went up to 23 in 2008 and is 19 now

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Research Paper

School Choice in Dayton, Ohio After Two Years: An Evaluation of the Parents Advancing Choice in Education Scholarship Program

Martin R. West, Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell

ABSTRACT: In the spring of 1998, Parents Advancing Choice in Education (PACE), a privately funded non-profit corporation, offered low-income parents within the Dayton metropolitan area an opportunity to apply for a scholarship to help defray the costs of sending their child to private schools in Dayton and other parts of Montgomery County, Ohio. All students from low-income families entering a grade between kindergarten and twelfth grade were eligible. PACE offered scholarships to 515 students who were in public schools at the time and 250 students who were already enrolled in private schools. This evaluation examines the program’s impact after two years on those students in grades 2-9 who had been attending public schools prior to receiving a scholarship.

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Global Education Statistics

Distribution of aid to basic education by levels

 


 

RTE Coalition

To initiate and continue the discussion amongst concerned groups and individuals on the issue of right of education and monitor the implementation of the RTE Act, an RTE Coalition has been formed. Join the coalition to make universal elementary education a reality in India. Log on to www.righttoeducation.in for more information.

 

 

Student First! Dialogue

Social Audit in School Education

Thursday, 18 November 2010 | 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Casuarina Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India

For more details click here

 

 

School Choice National Conference 2010

18 December 2010, 9 am - 6 pm
The Theatre, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India

To read more click here

 

 

 

SCHOOL VOUCHERS FOR GIRLS

400 girl children from poor families of North East Delhi receive school vouchers for a period of 4 years.
For details visit  website

 

 

 

Support Children's Right to Education of Choice!
DONATE

For more details on how to support, log on to www.schoolchoice.in or email us at [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

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