New school of thought enters poll campaign
Hindustan Times, 18 April 2009

“The Centre for Civil Society has its own campaign this election season. Its demands are: parents - especially the poorer ones - should be given the right to choose a school for their child. They should also have the option to opt out if the school's teachers under-perform. Having started a school voucher programme, which enables poor children to go to a school of their choice, the Centre will now lobby political parties to give millions of parents and students a right to choose their school.” More [+]

'Non-profit only' rule hinders private equity in education
DNA, 15 April 2009

“Mumbai: Are archaic laws preventing the quality of education in India from rising? It would seem so from the results of a survey conducted by 'Venture Intelligence', an information aggregator for institutional investors. According to it, policy ambiguities are preventing many funds, especially those based overseas, from investing in the $40 billion Indian education sector.” More [+]

The treatment effect of grade repetitions
Mohamed-Badrane Mahjoub, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Paris School of Economics, May 2008

“This paper estimates the treatment effect of grade repetitions in junior high schools, using a rich panel of French students. Test scores are observed when students are entering and leaving junior high school. Two identification strategies are used: instrumental variables and matching estimators. With the two methods, value-added is taken as an outcome. The IV estimator uses birth quarter as an instrument to identify the local average treatment effect, and the matching estimator relies on a conditional independence assumption to recover a semi-parametric estimation of the average treatment on the treated. The two methods give a positive effect of grade repetitions, between 10 and 25% of the test-score gain's standard deviation. A grade repetition improves the probability to graduate from junior high school by 2.5 probability points.” More [+]

No corporal punishment: India needs social movement
Merinews, 21 April 2009

“In India we not only need stricter laws, which are implemented, but also (and more importantly so) a social movement that brings together teachers, care givers, parents and communities to strongly 'say no to corporal punishment' in all institutions.” More [+]

Govt turning a blind eye to education'
Expressindia, 20 April 2009

“Citing government apathy as the cause of all problems faced by students of both private and government run schools, the All India Parents Association(AIPA) on Sunday staged a demonstration near the Lt. Governor's residence asking him to look into the issues. Nearly a thousand people marched in the bylanes of Civil Lines from the Shah Auditorium at Raj Niwas Marg, after police refused permission to protestors to gather outside the Raj Niwas itself.” More [+]

Govt asks schools to stick to fee hike limit
The Times of India, 16 April 2009

“NEW DELHI: Schools that had increased their fees beyond the norms set by the government have been asked by to roll back the hike. Moreover, schools which hiked the fees without convening the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting are being asked to convene a general body PTA meet (where all parents are to be invited) within 30 days, while those that are yet to set up a PTA have been asked to institute their PTA at the general body meet (GBM).” More [+]

25 minority schools form association
The Times of India, 16 April 2009

“NEW DELHI: In an effort to ensure financial and administrative autonomy of minority schools in the city, around 25 such schools on Wednesday announced the launch of an association, The Forum of Minority Schools' (TFMS). The forum will also act as a common platform, facilitating exchange of human resources, expertise, faculties and infrastructure among minority institutions." More [+]

EU to provide skill education to marginalised groups in India
The Hindu, 21 April 2009

“New Delhi(PTI): To help India increase its skilled workforce, the European Union will provide vocational education and training to marginalised groups in the country. The European Union has come up with a scheme under which it will provide financial assistance of 500,000 to 1000,000 Euro to groups in India to spend on skill development.” More [+]

Does School Privatization Improve Educational Achievement? Evidence from Sweden's Voucher Reform
Anders Böhlmark and Mikael Lindahl, Institute for the Study of Labor, September 2008

“This paper evaluates general achievement effects of choice and competition between private and public schools at the nine-year school level by assessing a radical voucher reform that was implemented in Sweden in 1992. Starting from a situation where the public schools essentially were monopolists on all local school markets, the degree of privatization has developed very differently across municipalities over time as a result of this reform.” More [+]

Primary Completion Rates across Socio-Religious Communities in West Bengal

"Primary completion rates of Muslims in West Bengal are substantially lower than that of upper caste communities as well as backward castes, scheduled castes and tribes."

Zakir Husain and Amrita Chatterjee, Economic and Political Weekly, April 2009

When Private Schools Take Public Dollars: What's the Place of Accountability in School Voucher Programs?

The Fordham Institute conducted a survey of experts who are advocates of private education, soliciting opinions about how private schools accepting public monies, such as from voucher programs, should be held accountable.

Thomas B. Fordham Institute, March 2009

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