On the side of the children
The Hindu, 04 February 2012

In nine remote, conflict-ridden blocks of five states, a cadre of young people specially selected and trained for their leadership qualities and commitment to child rights are ensuring that children go to school as mandated by the Right to Education Act, anganwadi centres nurture infants, teachers actually teach and food meant for mid-day meals is not siphoned off. One of them, a 19-year-old tribal girl in Andhra Pradesh, stood up fearlessly to the Naxals when they were stopping distribution of food to children.

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Needed urgently: An education revolution
The Times of India, 04 February 2012

No country has transited from being poor and backward to being rich and developed without an education revolution. We in India are busy boasting about our economic growth rates and geopolitical rise but have lost sight of the deep weakness of our society. The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009+ test, which Indian students from Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took, are an indication of the abysmal state of our education system.

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It will take 100 years to revamp education!
Ibnlive, 05 February 2012

HYDERABAD: Revamping education system in a country like India will take 50 to 100 years of hard work, believes Professor Howard Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, he was in the city as part of his six-city tour in the country. The professor of cognitive psychology emphasized that for India, “there are no quick-fix solutions for changing the education system.” Speaking to the media at the Indian School of Business, the educationist spoke of the narrow framework in which educational institutions and learning are judged.

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Obama Calls for E-Textbooks, Tech-Education Partnership
Mobiledia, 03 February 2012

The Obama administration is urging a nationwide transition to digital textbooks, underscoring a need for partnership between tech companies, publishers, and schools to improve learning. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chair Julius Genachowski said Wednesday schools and publishers should switch to digital textbooks within five years to foster interactive education, save money on books and ensure classrooms in the U.S. use up-to-date content.

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Clamp down on pvt schools will compromise quality education
The Times of India, 04 February 2012

AJMER: As the education department issue strict warnings to public and private schools against flouting provisions of the Right To Education Act, 2009, from the coming academic session, authorities of these school rued the clampdown saying quality education would be compromised if the government ended their autonomy. The department's directive came at a time when the public and private schools are awaiting a Supreme Court verdict to decide on their autonomy. These schools are now waiting for a favourable decision from the apex court to exempt them from the compulsory free admission of 25 per cent of their total seats for students from the deprived category.

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BMC schools lack basic facilities
Myeducationtimes .com, 01 February 2012

Mumbai: The Right to Education Act has surely brought relief to many children, but a recent survey of the state of municipal schools in Mumbai has shed light on glaring loopholes in the implementation of the Act. Be it provision of basic infrastructure or sanitation facilities for students in civic schools, the survey found out the problems faced by a majority of BMC schools in the city. Child Rights and You (CRY) conducted a survey on 52 BMC-run schools in the city and focused primarily on the quality of education provided to students. Library and computer facilities were missing in most of the schools and 73% of the schools didn’t even have a library in place. “While drinking water is available in schools, there were no purifiers in 55% schools and 50% of these schools didn’t even have proper toilet facilities for the children,” said Priya Rabadi, a member of CRY.

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Vocational Education in India: A Big Opportunity
Youth ki Awaaz, 31 January 2012

One need not explain the meaning of Demographic Dividend in the present context, as it has been India’s trump Card during the recent high growth period. But, the apparent demographic dividend has mostly resulted into a mistake. We need our youth to be productive in a much more effective and extensive way. The 93 % of employment in unorganized sectors is a shame for a country of the size of India.

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Education for All - Girl Education Scenario in India
EzineMark .com, 03 February 2012

The right to education is a birth right of every Indian child. Education in our country has a long and glorious history that dates back to the Vedic period. In Indian, people from different socio cultural sects live in harmony with each other. It is said that in India, one can see a unity in diversity. The Government of India took many initiatives to ensure equal status and education for all, irrespective of caste, economic condition, gender and social status. However, India is still having the lowest female literacy rate in Asia.

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Aligning student, parent and teacher incentives: Evidence from Houston Public School
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES, January 2012

This paper describes an experiment designed to investigate the impact of aligning student, parent, and teacher incentives on student achievement. On outcomes for which incentives were provided, there were large treatment effects. Students in treatment schools mastered more than one standard deviation more math objectives than control students, and their parents attended almost twice as many parent-teacher conferences. In contrast, on related outcomes that were not incentivized (e.g. standardized test scores, parental engagement), we observe both positive and negative effects. We argue that these facts are consistent with a moral hazard model with multiple tasks, though other explanations are possible.

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Mobile learning in developing countries in 2012: What's Happening?
In recent chats with officials from [an un-named country], I learned of the desire of educational policymakers there to leap frog e-learning through m-learning. Click here to read more

Delhi HC lays down distance criterion for Economically Weaker Sections students' admissions
31.1.2012 (UNI) Delhi High Court today laid down the distance criterion to be adopted by schools in the capital while admitting children of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category. Click here to read more

Access to education is difficult for Indian kids
Despite the Right to Education Act, access to education is an everyday struggle for many Indian kids because of challenges like inaccessibility to schools and unavailability of teachers. 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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