Why they won't come to teach you from Harvard
Neelima Mahajan-Bansal & Shishir Prasad-Forbes India, IBN LIVE, 9 April 2010

Now that the Cabinet has approved the entry of foreign universities into India, expect education to go the way of the dotcom and the real estate boom that happened in the last decade. Shocking, no? Totally. This in spite of both the minister — Sibal — and the entrepreneur wanting to do the right thing. If the minister thinks that by allowing foreign universities he can help significantly more Indians to graduate then that’s not going to happen. If an enterpreneur thinks that by rapidly scaling up his campuses he can deliver education of a quality that makes students employable, then that too is bit of a stretch.

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Devil in the details
A.K.Verma, Indian Express, 12 April 2010

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s initial reactions to The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act raised eyebrows all over. The Act would help children of most Dalits, a constituency so assiduously nurtured by Mayawati. Even so, she has a point. The nation may be infatuated by the new educational law, but, as time passes, we may realise how ineffective legal instruments are in tackling social and cultural evils. More [+]

Sticks and Carrots for Teachers
Mayank Maheshwari, The Wall Street Journal, 7 April 2010

A well-implemented feedback and compensation system, where teachers are critically evaluated by parents, peers and school leaders, would help in making teaching more student-centric and less mechanical. This will benefit not just students, who will suddenly find their classes more interesting and relevant, but also teachers, who will be able to communicate and interact with students more effectively. More [+]

Right to education: States want Centre to foot bulk of expense
DNA, 11 April 2010

A reality check has shown that that almost all state governments want the centre to increase its proposed share from 55% to between 75% and 90%. Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh want the centre to provide 100% funds.Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat have also expressed reservations about the huge financial burden the path-breaking legislation will entail for them More [+]

Delhi child rights panel to set up RTE cell
India Edunews, 8 April 2010

In an effort to spread awareness about the recently implemented Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) on Thursday announced it will set up an RTE cell and a child helpline. The helpline and the cell would function through cell phones, telephones and letters, which, in turn, will act as a forum for distressed children and guardians to register their complaints against violation of their rights. This helpline would be monitored in a transparent manner at the senior most level. More [+]

Jharkhand’s RTE predicament: Too many students, too few teachers
Manoj Prasad, Indian Express, 12 April 2010

Of the 1,33,500 posts for teachers in the state, 13,500 posts are lying vacant as of now. An estimated 15 per cent of the current teaching staff is set to retire soon.Instead of first filling up the posts of teachers lying vacant, the state is trying to enroll as many students as possible. The pupil teacher ratio especially in rural area is really high as teachers’ prefer to get transferred to towns in the absence of civic amenities in rural areas. More [+]

Teacher Education Reform: Good Intentions Gone Wrong
William A. Proefriedt, Education week, 6 April 2010

The purpose of undergraduate and graduate programs for teachers is to prepare them to successfully educate young people inclassrooms. Since we already measure the achievement of students through a variety of standardized tests, it seems sensible to evaluate the quality of a teacher education program by the criterion of how well the students of its graduates do on these standard measures of academic achievement. But we go beyond all reasonable limits when we take the test scores as a proxy of student achievement or as a measure of the quality of the programs from which teachers graduated. More [+]

Conservatives to let private firms run state schools at a profit
Times Online, 11 April 2010

Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, has signalled that profit-making companies will be allowed to run chains of state comprehensives under his plan to let parents set up hundreds of new schools. Parents’ groups will be able to subcontract private education companies to run the schools, without any need to change the law. More [+]

Private Schools for the Poor Development, Provision, and Choice in India
Ross Baird, Gray Matters Capital, May 2009

ABSTRACT: This report examines private enrollment throughout India to explain why private schools for the poor exist and in which cases they are most likely to have the largest effect on enrollment. Covering every state and region of India, the study utilizes a macro-level analysis of various independent factors such as government spending on education, political opinion, economic data, and cultural variables to determine their relationship to private schools in the developing world. 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.

Date:5 May 2010(6pm onwards)
Venue:Casuarina Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

For details visit website

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