Emerging India Leaves Women out of Loop
Times of India, May 2, 2011

India is a frontrunner in the race for rapid growth among the emerging economies collectively known as BRICS, but it lags well behind the others when it comes to taking women along in its progress. Fewer Indian women are literate and represented in the workforce than those in the four other emerging nations (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa) reveals a detailed analysis of data released recently by the Population Research Bureau and USAID recently. When it comes to placing women in the power corridors of politics too, India is outdone by all except Brazil.

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B.Com Graduates now eligible for Teaching jobs
Indian Express, May 1, 2011

Giving a big boost to B.Com graduates aspiring to pursue a career in teaching, Government has decided to allow them to appear for the mandatory test for appointment as teachers from standard six to eight.As per qualification norms for teachers issued last year under the Right to Education Act, BA and B.Sc graduates were only eligible for appointment of teachers. ”The National Council of Teacher Education, however, received representation from state governments and other stakeholders in respect of inclusion of B.Com degree holder for the appointment of teacher for class VI to VIII,” said an official in the HRD Ministry.

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Delhi has over 50,000 street children: study
The Hindu, April 29, 2011

The National capital is home to over 50,000 street children – constituting 0.4 per cent of Delhi’s population and one per cent of the total number of children here– a latest study has claimed. North Delhi has the highest concentration of street children at 10,091 of a total figure of 50,923 estimated to be living in the city.

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500 mn skilled workers, innovative knowledge economy by 2022
Express India, April 27, 2011

The government intends to raise as many as 500 million skilled workers by 2022 to equip a rapidly growing country with the required diversified human resource, Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today said.

Sibal, who laid the foundation of Rajasthan’s first Central University here in Ajmer district, also gave a broad outline of his ministry’s vision for creating an innovative knowledge economy in India over the coming years.

Rueing the fact that very less emphasis was laid on creating intellectual property, he said to bridge the development gap with advanced countries, India has to focus on sending a large number of students to universities

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Indian schools to be repaired by high school students from US
Missourian, May 2, 2011

COLUMBIA – The students of Columbia Independent School are helping five of their own travel more than 7,000 miles to restore a school on the other side of the world.

On July 31, Alejandro Chávez, Natalie Collings, Lea Selby, Cecily Krehbiel and Lauren Roehlke, all juniors at Columbia Independent, will embark on a two-week journey to Ayur, India. The town lies near the west coast in India’s southern tip.

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Across the border, Education policies framed but not implemented
Dawn, May 1, 2011

PESHAWAR – The successive governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have failed to launch four-year graduation degree programme in public sector colleges as enshrined in the national education policies.

“Structural changes were first witnessed in the education system in the country when the 1979 Education Policy was framed, envisaging a practical plan to replace the earlier four-tier system of primary, secondary, college and university by a three-tier system of elementary (from grade I to VIII), secondary (grade IX to XII) and higher education (XIII and above) in phases,” officials told Dawn.

Political Education as a Right
The Jakarta Post, April 30, 2011

Indonesia’s political maturity is part of the country’s ongoing nation-building process. Many political issues such as a plan to build a Rp 1.13 trillion (US$130 million) House of Representatives office tower, a controversy over independent presidential candidates and corrupt practices in local governments, have sparked public debates.

But the way politicians responded to public criticism as in the case of the new House building appears to confirm a hypothesis that in the eyes of the elite, people lack political education. In a nutshell, in terms of political education, there is a disparity between the elite and the people.

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The Finland Phenomenon: World’s Most Surprising School System
Minuteman News Centre, April 27, 2011

Finland, a country with a population of 5 million people, is considered to have one of the best school systems in the world. Teaching is considered one of the top professions in the country and competition for those coveted slots in Finnish universities is keen. Students start school at the age of 7 and are taught according to their individual developmental needs. There is very little homework, and students endure very little standardized testing yet maintain top scores internationally on the tests they do take. They are taught to take personal responsibility for their own education and their place in Finnish society as adults.A film underscoring those attributes of Finnish schools entitled “The Finland Phenomenon” was screened recently at the Westport Public Library, drawing a large crowd of educators and parents interested in making real and impactful changes in education in the state of Connecticut.

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Research
The Progress of School Education in India

Dr. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon

Abstract: his paper provides an overview of school education in India. Firstly, it places Indiaís educational achievements in international perspective, especially against countries with which it is now increasingly compared such as BRIC economies in general and China in particular. India does well relative to Pakistan and Bangladesh but lags seriously behind China and the other BRIC countries, especially in secondary school participation and youth literacy rates. Secondly, the paper examines schooling access in terms of enrolment and school attendance rates, and schooling quality in terms of literacy rates, learning achievement levels, school resources and teacher inputs.

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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

WISE Awards 2011: Now open for submissions

Innovative educational projects from all regions of the world and from all educational sectors may now be entered for the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards 2011 at www.wise-qatar.org. The submissions deadline is 31 May 2011.

Click here for details.

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.

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

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

For more details on how to support, log on to www.schoolchoice.in or email us at [email protected]