| Are Direct
Cash Subsidies Better?
Forbes, March 21, 2011
After dithering on the matter for more than a decade,
the government has announced that it will provide direct
cash subsidy for fertiliser, kerosene and LPG. It will
start by running a pilot based on the recommendations
of a task force formed for this purpose, and headed
by Nandan Nilekani. It is due to submit its report by
June this year. The move is significant since many believe
that once implemented, it will pave the way for similar
direct cash transfers by the government in subsidies
like food and education.
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Putting a Price
Tag on the ‘Right to Education’
Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2011
According to a new estimate put out
by a government spending accountability group, getting
existing Indian government schools to meet education
rules that came into effect last year could cost 152
billion rupees, or about $3.4 billion dollars. And getting
India to fully meet what that law mandates—free
and compulsory education for all children between the
ages six to 14—could cost well over triple that
amount, or about $11 billion.
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| Sequoia Capital
invests Rs 25 cr in K12 Techno Services
Business Standard, March 16, 2011
Sequoia Capital India Advisors Pvt
Ltd, the Indian arm of the US-based venture capital
firm, today announced its second round funding of Rs
25 crore to city-based K12 Techno Services Pvt Ltd,
which runs 70 Gowtham Model School units in Andhra Pradesh.
This, along with an earlier investment of Rs 75 crore
made in July 2010, has been jointly put by Sequoia and
SONG Investment Advisors in an 80:20 ratio. With this,
Sequoia-SONG hold 49 percent in K12 Techno Services
while the rest is with the promoters.
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| Top colleges
to award own degrees?
Times of India, March 22, 2011
NEW DELHI: Top colleges in the country
like St Stephen’s in Delhi and St Xavier’s
in Kolkata may be allowed to give their own degrees
if the recommendation of a committee set up by the HRD
ministry is accepted. The ministry has in fact set up
a panel to create a roadmap for implementing the recommendations
of the Madhav Menon committee about autonomy in higher
education — which suggested that top colleges
be allowed to give degrees — and reports by committee
of vice-chancellors on issues like centralized admission
test.
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| Skilled manpower
requirement at 500K in 5 years: CII Gujarat
Business Standard, March 22, 2011
At a time when Gujarat is eyeing a
15 per cent growth rate, the skilled manpower requirement
in next five years has been pegged at 500,000. Speaking
at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Gujarat
Annual Day Conference on ‘Gujarat: Vocational
Education & Training and Skill Development –
The Livelihood’, Maheshwar Sahu, principal secretary,
Industry and Mines, Government of Gujarat emphasised
on skill development.
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School results
are in …
Indian Express, March 18, 2011
The preamble to the historic Right
of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009
(RTE) reads ‘… an Act to provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of six
to fourteen years.’ So how realistic is this target?
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| Enrolment
in primary schools plunges 2.6 million in 2 years
Economic Times, March 21, 2011
MUMBAI: It is a lesson in misplaced
enthusiasm. While the Centre has been busy tom-tomming
its efforts to send more children to school, enrolment
in primary classes across the country has, in actuality,
dropped since 2007. Between 2008-09 and 2009-10, enrolment
in classes I to IV in Indian schools dropped by over
2.6 million.
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BE happy: Quota
for the poor stays
DNA, March 19, 2011
The Union ministry for human resource
development (MHRD) has directed all technical institutes
across the country to provide 5% reservation for meritorious
students from economically backward families. The decision
comes close on the heels of the state government’s
move to remove the quota, reserved for poor meritorious
students, in undergraduate engineering colleges through
Common Entrance Test.
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Research
Article
Are friends important in educational outcomes?
Eleonora Patacchini Yves Zenou
ABSTRACT: Most people agree that friends
matter – not just for personal wellbeing but for
achieving their goals in life. Several studies have
shown this to be particularly the case in education
but the detection and measure of such peer effects is
often found wanting. Using detailed information on friendship
networks of American high-school students, this column
finds that the friends we make at age 15 to 18 have
a strong and persistent effect on our lives.
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ENABLE
– ARK & CCS’s School Access and Voucher
Programme
ARK’s work in Delhi has identified
many communities where children are facing multiple
social and economic challenges which put them at great
risk of being excluded, dropping out or never attending
school. To address this need ARK has partnered with
Centre for Civil Society (CCS)
to implement ENABLE (Ensure Access to Better Learning
Experiences), a school access and
voucher programme for underprivileged children in Shahdara.Read
more
School
Choice National Conference Video
Watch this video to catch the highlights
of the School Choice National Conference 2010 held at
India Habitat Centre.
Click here
for the video
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RTE Coalition
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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Student First! Magazine
The second issue of Student First! Magazine is out.
The theme for this issue is Public Private Partnerships
in Education.
For more click here
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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
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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 website
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Support Children's Right to Education of Choice!
DONATE
For more details on how to support, log on to www.schoolchoice.in
or email us at [email protected]
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This is our 128th edition. Please
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