Tough road ahead for unrecognised schools
The Indian Express, 7 Dec 2009

Bad news is in store for the thousands of “unrecognised schools” operating all over the Capital. Once the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 is implemented, they face the prospect of a shutdown. The Act will make it mandatory for all schools to get a certificate of recognition from a local authority for functioning, or before being established. In case the school fails to comply, a fine will be imposed for contravention. After the Act is implemented by the Delhi government, all unrecognised schools will have to seek recognition within six months. “There is no provision for a school to get recognised (under the present legislation - Delhi Education Act, 1973),” said Director School Education, Delhi, P Krishnamurthy. More [+]

College Loans as Development Aid
The New York Times, 6 Dec 2009

Three months ago, Kushal Chakrabarti likes to say, the organization he co-founded, Vittana.org, amounted to little more than “three guys and a dog.” Then readers of The Huffington Post chose Mr. Chakrabarti as the “Ultimate Game Changer in Philanthropy,” and suddenly Vittana, which is pioneering student loans in the developing world, was the next new thing in charity. “I don’t even know how we got onto the list,” Mr. Chakrabarti said in an interview a few days before the results of the contest were announced. Vittana, which beat out such well-known charities as DonorsChoose and people like Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, is building a student loan business for microfinance institutions that cater to poor people in the developing world. More [+]

Public Option Campus Revolt
The Wall Street Journal, 5 Dec 2009

There's encouraging news on that other Washington effort to force Americans into a government-run system. The White House plan to drive private lenders out of the market for student loans is igniting a backlash on campus and Capitol Hill. The typical tale of a free-speech controversy on campus involves administrators landing on some poor undergrad who violates political correctness. But in this story the administrators have been afraid to speak as the Department of Education pressured them to drop private lenders and embrace the department's own Direct Lending (DL) program. The pending bill, which has passed the House but is stalled in the Senate, would ban private lenders from making federally guaranteed loans after July 1, 2010. More [+]

Greater transparency in AICTE needed, says CBI
Deccan Herald, 6 Dec 2009

After probing 24 cases of ''corruption'' in the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and scrutinising approvals accorded to about 100 institutions across the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has suggested ''comprehensive systemic changes'' in giving clearance to technical institutions. More [+]

For a future ready education system
The Times of India, 30 Nov 2009

WITH more than 400 universities and over 20,000 colleges, the student enrolment in India has crossed 12.9 million in 2007-2008, clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% since 1985-86. Also, participation of the private sector has increased, with about 63% of the total higher education institutions in the country being private unaided institutions. It’s a big leap, considering the fact that in 2001, the share of unaided private institutions was 42.6%. More [+]

Sibal for making secondary education a right of every child
The Indian Express, 4 Dec 2009

After elementary education, the government aims to make secondary education a right of every child in the country in the next five years, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday. The Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill in the last session, making education a fundamental right of every child in the age group of six to 14 years. "Hopefully by 2013 or 2015, we should make free and compulsory education a right at secondary stage also," the minister said at the ICC Regional CEO Forum on 'Globalisation and Inclusive Growth'. More [+]

Rush for nursery admissions begins in Pune
The Times of India, 6 Dec 2009

PUNE: Little Reva's father has just managed to obtain an application form for her entry into nursery after standing in queue all night outside the Paranjpe high school in Kothrud. It's that time of the year again. The mad rush for admission to the pre-primary section has started. With a considerable mismatch between the demand for quality education and the availability of seats in reputed schools, the struggle to admit one's child into school is a nightmare. More [+]

Home Schooling : Living history fuels the future
The Washington Times, 6 Dec 2009

Holidays are a time when people reflect on the meaning of historical events. I often see home-schooling as a way of reseeding our nation with the truer principles and information that are the actual strength of our nation. The ideals that are quaint to most modern educators often are real-life guidelines to home educators. While the normal classroom teacher may dutifully share the facts of history with her students, the home-schooler often is living them. We study the Pilgrims — departing a safe, but decaying, society and starting fresh in an untamed land — as a model for those who want to live by a higher standard. We study the founding documents of our nation and marvel at how uncommon commoners debunked the idea of the divine right of kings. More [+]

Do more with less in lean times, education experts say
The Washington Examiner, 6 Dec 2009

Suburban Washington school officials are searching for a miracle diet to shed some of the budgetary heft accumulated in nearly a decade of happy abundance. Between 2002 and 2009, average per pupil expenditure -- the total operating budget divided by enrollment -- grew by nearly 45 percent in the region to more than $14,000. Budgets became bleaker last year, and only in Montgomery County did per-student spending increase slightly, according to Washington Area Boards of Education statistics. More [+]

Book Launch and Panel Discussion

The School Choice Campaign and Penguin Books launched Professor James Tooley’s new “The Beautiful Tree-A Personal Journey into How the world’s Poorest People are Educating Themselves" on 11 November 2009 at the India Habitat Centre as part of the STUDENT FIRST! Dialogue Series on Quality Education for All.
...More photos

The country’s top policy makers, educational researchers and civil society will come together for the School Choice National Conference .
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Action for School Admission Reforms (ASAR) is School Choice Campaign's initiative to usher in fairness and transparency in nursery admissions. If parents in your city too are suffering, please write to us at [email protected]

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