Govt Shocked Over Reports on Embezzlement of UK Grants in SSA
Hindustan Times, June 21, 2010

The government on Tuesday expressed shock over reports of embezzlement of UK grants in Sarva Siksha Abhiyan scheme and said that the flagship programme follows “rigorous and robust monitoring system”. A day after the British government launched an inquiry into the alleged misuse of its funds under SSA, Department of School Education and Literacy under HRD Ministry here said it will write to the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of External Affairs in this regard

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NCHER Receives Nod from Advisory Body on Education
Aarti Dhar, The Hindu, June 22, 2010

The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on Saturday broadly endorsed setting up of the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) as an apex/ regulatory body, entrusted with framing policy, and to bring within its ambit, medical education and other disciplines of higher education and research.

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Education Institutes Likely to Get Partial Financial Autonomy
Economic Times, June 15, 2010

HRD minister Kapil Sibal has asked higher education secretary Vibha Puri Das to set up a committee to look into the issue of providing “partial autonomy” to higher education institutes to enable them to be flexible in matters of salary for faculty, funding specific projects without having to rush to New Delhi for approval from the ministry.

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Higher Education Quota Must Continue, Says Survey
Aarti Dhar, The Hindu, June 17, 2010

Supporting the government’s policy of reservation in Central institutions of higher education in the country, a survey has said such an affirmative action will have to continue until the existing inequalities in terms of access to quality elementary education are removed. “The reservation policy compensates these inequalities faced by the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and the Muslim community,” it says.

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To go from Mediocrity to Excellence
N.R. Madhava Menon, The Hindu, June 18, 2010

Currently, the content of legal education is considered to be a function of the regulatory bodies (read Bar Council of India) and the universities are obliged to follow it. This has adversely affected curriculum development in terms of serving the multiple objects of legal education and inhibited innovation and experimentation that are essential for academic and professional excellence. In a sense, it has alienated law schools from its essential function of legal research and development.

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Studies Support Charter Schools’ Performance
Lexington Herald Leader, June 21, 2010

Charter schools might not offer a magic pill that can cure all of Kentucky’s public education ailments. However, it’s tough to ignore the growing amount — and credibility — of evidence that charter schools offer opportunity for change that could transform the lives of many of Kentucky’s neediest students.

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Report Questions Focus of DfID Spending on Education
Liz Ford, The Guardian, June 18, 2010

The National Audit Office (NAO) report found that, since 2001, aid money from the Department for International Development (DfID) has helped the department’s 22 priority countries make significant progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal to achieve universal primary education and gender equality in schools. But the money has not improved the quality of education, reduced drop-out rates, or sufficiently monitored teachers’ pay levels, which typically take up 90% of the education budget in developing countries.

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Sibal Proposes Merger of Entrance Tests
Aarti Dhar, The Hindu, June 19, 2010

In a move that could affect thousands of students seeking admission to professional colleges, the Centre is considering the merger of the Central Board of Secondary Education-conducted All India Pre Medical Test and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination. The proposal was made by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal at the meeting of the State Education Ministers here on Friday.

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Read India
Madhav Chavan, Pratham

Project Read India is about getting every child reading in a short predictable time frame. Of course, reading is not the end, it is the first step. Already 150,000 children have taken this step, and a few million more will make it one giant leap over the next year. The project started in January 2003. Over the last six months, the project and the reading technique has been replicated and scaled up in seven different states and five different languages (Hindi, Marathi, Gujrati, Kannada, and Urdu). Now, it is metamorphosing into a campaign to catalyze learning on a massive scale. In 2003-04, it is likely to affect over 5 million children.

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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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James Tooley’s “The Beautiful Tree” bags 2010 Fisher International Memorial Award.
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7 July 2010,

India Habitat Centre, Delhi

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