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Bombay high court blow to state: Private schools can
decide own fees
Menaka Rao, Daily News & Analysis,
September 2, 2010
The Bombay high court on Wednesday
set aside the government resolutions (GRs) formed to
regulate fees charged by private unaided schools, stating
that they were unconstitutional. As a result, private
unaided schools can decide their own fees. A division
bench of justices DK Deshmukh and ND Deshpande held
that the GRs violate the right to set up an educational
institution.The Unaided School’s Forum and the
Association of International Schools and Principals
Foundation had moved court challenging the state government’s
resolve to regulate fees of private schools. The associations
said the government’s decision of July 1999 and
July 2010 curtails an institution’s autonomy.
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Enabling cultural expression in schools
Amukta Mahapatra, The Hindu,
September 5, 2010
With the schools by and large seen
as nodal centres for delivery of content and tukdas
of knowledge, the children’s own range of expression
is not given due attention. Even within the academic
area, reading (taking in what others have written) has
more weightage than writing. Most of the work done as
writing in schools is merely copying or regurgitating
the text. Increasingly, the individual is seen as a
consumer and the child is considered a prime target
for consuming the products, as an influencing agent
in the purchase of commodities, and as a future purchaser
in the growing market economy.But what happens to the
content the child wants to write, to express, to communicate
his thoughts and feelings, his or her responses while
interacting with the society s/he is a part of from
the time of birth?
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| India Inc
goes back to school; not to learn, but earn
P Vinod Kumar, The Financial Express,
September 5, 2010
Corporate India seems to have taken
a leaf out of the books of cash-flush private equity
and venture capital funds as it takes a re-look at the
recession-proof education segment. And this time it’s
not charity or philanthropy that brings them to classrooms,
but the simple formula to keep cash registers ringing.
“Education is a $40-billion opportunity waiting
to be tapped and Indian corporates have just started
realising its potential. Being a counter-cyclical business,
it provides insurance against any (economic) downturns
and ensure steady returns,” an analyst tracking
the sector told FE.
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| UK’s
second state-funded Hindu school soon
Deccan Herald, September 6,
2010
The first state-funded Hindu school
in Britain, Krishna Avanti Primary School, was set up
in 2008 in the London suburb of Harrow. The I-Foundation,
the educational charity organisation behind Krishna
Avanti Primary School, will also set up the new school
in Leicester. The new school is to be launched in 2011.
The proposal for the Hindu school in Leicester was one
of 16 approved today by the Department for Education
as in the running to open in 2011.
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| School reform’s
meager results
Robert J. Samuelson, The Washington
Post, September 6, 2010
As 56 million children return to the
nation’s 133,000 elementary and secondary schools,
the promise of “reform” is again in the
air. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has announced $4
billion in “Race to the Top” grants to states
whose proposals demonstrate, according to Duncan, “a
bold commitment to education reform” and “creativity
and innovation [that are] breathtaking.” What
they really show is that few subjects inspire more intellectual
dishonesty and political puffery than “school
reform.”
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| Slammed by
own, Sibal gets PM praise
Indian Express, September 5,
2010
After facing embarrassment in the Rajya
Sabha where his own partymen attacked him over an education
Bill, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday received
words of praise from PM Manmohan Singh. While the PM
commended Sibal for his zealous approach, UPA president
Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have agreed to launch 35 new
Navodaya school buildings next week.“I pay tribute
to my colleague Kapil Sibal for the zeal, dedication
and enthusiasm that he has brought to bear on the work
of this most important ministry of Union government,
that HRD Ministry is,” the PM said in his address
to the recipients of National Teachers Awards, to be
given away by the President on Sunday.
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| M&M aims
educational support to 1 lakh ‘Nanhi Kaliyan’
by 2011
Economic Times, September 5,
2010
Away from the rat race to acquire auto
firm in South Korea or pulling out all the stops to
take wings in aerospace sector from Australia, Mahindra
& Mahindra is quietly turning to support education
of underprivileged girls back home. The company, which
spends one per cent of its net profit on various welfare
schemes for the disadvantaged sections, aims to provide
support for education of one lakh girls by next year
under a scheme named ‘Nanhi Kali’.
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| Enabling cultural
expression in schools
Amukta Mahapatra, The Hindu,
September 5, 2010
With the schools by and large seen
as nodal centres for delivery of content and tukdas
of knowledge, the children’s own range of expression
is not given due attention. Even within the academic
area, reading (taking in what others have written) has
more weightage than writing. Most of the work done as
writing in schools is merely copying or regurgitating
the text. Increasingly, the individual is seen as a
consumer and the child is considered a prime target
for consuming the products, as an influencing agent
in the purchase of commodities, and as a future purchaser
in the growing market economy.But what happens to the
content the child wants to write, to express, to communicate
his thoughts and feelings, his or her responses while
interacting with the society s/he is a part of from
the time of birth?
More [+]
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| Research Paper
How do Government and Private Schools Differ? Findings
from two large Indian states
Sangeeta Goyal and Priyanka Pandey
World Bank
ABSTRACT: This paper uses survey data
from representative samples of government and private
schools in two states of India, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh, to explore systematic differences between the
two school types. We find that private school students
have higher test scores than government school students.
However, in both private and government schools the
overall quality is low and learning gains from one grade
to the next are small. There is large variation in the
quality of both school types; and observed school and
teacher characteristics are weakly correlated with learning
outcomes. There is
considerable sorting among students, and those from
higher socio-economic strata select into private schools.
Private schools have lower pupil-teacher ratios and
seven to eight times lower teacher salaries but do not
differ systematically in infrastructure and teacher
effort from government schools. Most of the variation
in teacher effort is within schools and is weakly correlated
with observed teacher characteristics such as education,
training, experience. After controlling for observed
student and school characteristics, the private school
advantage over government schools in test scores varies
by state, school type and grade. Private unrecognized
schools do better than private recognized schools. Given
the large salary differential, private schools would
clearly be more cost effective even in the case of no
absolute difference in test scores.
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Picture
of the Week
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Human Resource
Development Minister Kapil Sibal during a function,
on the eve of Teachers Day
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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.
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Student First! Dialogue Series
Topic: National Curriculum: Does
one size fit all?
8 September 2010
Casuarina Hall, India Habitat Centre,
New Delhi
For
more information
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2010
Fisher International Memorial Award
James Tooley’s “The
Beautiful Tree” bags 2010 Fisher International
Memorial Award.
To read more click
here |
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| 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
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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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