The Story of One School Why 650 children came and only 200 remained
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 15, 14 April 2012

WITH THE Right to Education Act (RTE) completing two years, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal may feel smug about the decline in dropout rates. But close to 40,000 children in the Naxal-hit districts of Chhattisgarh are yet to even enrol in schools. To them, the impressive figures of the Human Resource and Development Ministry regarding addition of classrooms matter little. Most of these children missing from schools in these areas are actually victims of conflict.

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Silver bullets in education
Livemint, 04 April 2012

Last year, Dileep and I were in a cab headed to Columbia University. After the cab driver learnt that we work in school education in India, we were lectured loudly by him. It started with some curt advice to Dileep about his lovely dark blue kurta: unless he dressed properly (in trousers and shirt) no one would take him seriously. He wanted us to be taken seriously —with a purpose. The Chinese were taking over the world. He didn’t like it. In his assessment the only people who could stop the Chinese were us, the Indians. And we were messing up by not fixing our school system. Our school system could be fixed easily, by being tough with the teachers: we should fire the 20% who don’t show up for work and also those who don’t improve performance in a year.

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Govt invites private companies to start secondary schools
Livemint, 03 April 2012

Govt seeks expressions of interest from firms to open 2,500 secondary schools over the next five years. Following a road map laid out in the budget, the Union government has invited proposals from companies to open secondary schools, amid increasing concern over the quality of education being imparted in India’s class rooms. The human resource development (HRD) ministry, which oversees education, has sought expressions of interest from companies in joining the public-private partnership (PPP) project to open 2,500 schools over the next five years.

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RTE in place, but no water or toilets
The Times of India, 02 April 2012

NEW DELHI: Little seems to have changed in the city since the Right to Education was implemented exactly two years ago. A large number of schools still lack basic facilities promised under the new constitutional right. A study by Delhi RTE Forum-an umbrella body of 20 non-profit organizations-says denial of admission and absence of basic facilities in schools pose a hurdle in proper implementation of the RTE.

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New York to consider making teacher evaluations available to parents
Democrat and Chronicle, 08 April 2012

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said they plan to take up the issue of whether to make teacher evaluations private or available to parents only, rather than allow the general public access to them. Cuomo and Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, have said in recent days that they are considering making the records available on a limited basis. “My inclination is the parent has a right to know the evaluation information of the teacher, so I think the parent’s right to know is important and should be protected,” the governor told reporters late last month.

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Post Aakash, tablet makers eye lucrative education sector
Business Standard, 08 April 2012

Once viewed as a corporate tool for busy executives, tablet PCs are fast metamorphosing itself into an essential tool for students. Buoyed by increasing demand in the education sector, scores of vendors have launched tablets targeting students over the last one year. The latest entrants: Micromax and HCL Infosystem. Earlier this week, Micromax unveiled its tablet PC called Funbook, it is priced at Rs 6,499. The launch comes just a day after HCL Infosytem introduced its MyEdu Tab (priced at Rs 9,999).

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Education for all still a distant dream in J&K: CAG
Daily News and Analysis, 07 April 2012

The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the Jammu and Kashmir government for financial irregularities, fund diversion and non-monitoring of Central education programmes, saying that it has resulted in education for all a "distant dream" in the state. "Despite all efforts of Government of India (GoI) and State Government, education for all still remains a distant dream," the CAG report for the 2010-11, which was tabled in J&K Assembly recently, said.

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What's taught in school vs what industry needs
Today, 08 April 2012

SINGAPORE - They may hire the cream of the crop of graduates in India, but during his visits to some globally competitive companies in India, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam found that these companies still took pains to set up in-house colleges to retrain these "exceptionally-capable minds". Mr Tharman said that the chief executives told him they hire people based on entry tests but the graduates do not come with the skills required to "operate in the real world".

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School Participation in Rural India
Authors: Drèze, J and Kingdon, G.G

Abstract: This paper presents and analysis of the determinants of school participation in rural north India, based on a recent household survey which includes detailed information on school characteristics. School participation, especially among girls, responds to a wide range of variables, including parental education and motivation, social background, dependency ratios, work opportunities, village development, teacher postings, teacher regularity and midday meals. The remarkable lead achieved by the state of Himachal Pradesh is fully accounted for by these variables. School quality matters, but it is not related in a simple way to specific inputs.

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Pauline Dixon - How Private Schools Are Serving the Poorest - Watch video

Education in India has truly withered away
The question that kept bugging me endlessly is why would teachers who do not even know the students they are invigilating dictate answers to them? Click here to read more

Lawmaker urges public-private partnership in education
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Bamidele Faparusi, has urged the Ekiti State Government to seek partnership with the private sector to actualise its dream of resuscitating the state’s education sector. Click here to read more

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

Skill Vouchers - Global Experiences and Lessons for India

Leah Verghese and Parth J Shah

A study of the role that skill vouchers can play in catalysing demand for quality skill development services. This study examines global experiences with skill vouchers and draws lessons for India from these experiences.

For more click here

Reservation in Private Schools under the Right to Education Act: Model for Implementation

Shekhar Mittal and Parth J Shah

Through this document the Centre for Civil Society seeks to highlight the lacunae in the current framework for 25% reservation for weaker and disadvantaged groups in unaided private schools and seeks to provide inputs on effective implementation of the same.

For 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 our website

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

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