Elusive top
The Hindu, 15 October 2011

We have one of the largest higher education systems, yet manage only mediocre results. What’s wrong? Consider these facts. According to the World Bank, India has the third largest system of higher education in the world after China and the United States. Yet, we educate half as many young people from the university age group as China and rank well behind most Latin American and middle-income countries. When it comes to global rankings of institutions of higher learning, only the IITs, IIMs and Jawaharlal Nehru University have ever been ranked in the world’s top 200 universities by the Times Higher Education.

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After Harvard, Wharton looks for a classroom in India
Business Standard, 17 October 2011

The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, is the latest entrant to the growing Rs 350-crore executive education space in India. The school, ranked number two by Financial Times in its Global MBA rankings, said it will soon have its own centre in India. “Within the next two years we will have a physical presence in India. Through the centre, we will not only conduct executive education, but will also be able to use it as a place for the alumni to converge and our faculty to convene for research. We will have office space and classrooms.

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Teenagers want a say in sex education, says charity
BBC, 12 October 2011

Teenagers in Britain want to have more say in the content of sex education lessons at school, a survey finds. A poll of over 2,000 14 to 18-year-olds found 78% did not have the chance to influence the content of these lessons, but 72% thought they should. The poll, for the youth sexual health charity Brook, found more than one in five (22%) rated sex and relationships education as poor or very poor.

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Bogota clashes amid Colombian student protests
BBC, 13 October 2011

Thousands of students have protested in the Colombian capital, Bogota, and other cities against government plans to reform higher education. The demonstrations were mainly peaceful but Bogota police fired tear gas and used water cannon after some people threw stones, officials said. Students say the proposed reforms will lead to partial privatisation of the public universities.

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Education key to success of a nation: Gilani
Dawn, 14 October 2011

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said education was the key to the success of a nation and to help it confront the challenges it faced. Addressing a function here at the PM Secretariat to award the top students of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Prime Minister Gilani said health and education were his priority areas and desired that the Pakistani students excel in all fields.

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Centre may draw lesson from Maha
Times of India, 12 October 2011

MUMBAI: Taking a cue from the Maharashtra government to identify bogus students in the state, the Union government too may start a drive across the nation. “In Nanded district itself we identified over a lakh bogus students. Later a similar drive was initiated across the state, which has been appreciated by all sections of society and political parties cutting across party lines. Identifying bogus students will help the government in saving money as the fund is spent on students which actually does not exist. I will recommend to the Union government to initiate a nationwide drive to fix one of the loopholes in the existing education system,” Darda said.

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Teacher unions stage sit-down at edu office
Times of India, 16 October 2011

NAGPUR: The deputy director’s (education) office had its hands full on Saturday with two teachers’ unions staging a sit down at its gate. Independent of each other, the Vidarbha Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh (VMSS) and Teachers Welfare Organization (TWO) reached the education office to present a memorandum against the government’s policies regarding teachers. Prominent among the demands of both unions were the pay packages being offered to teachers.

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Creating “No Excuses” (Traditional) Public Schools: Preliminary Evidence from an Experiment in Houston
Research: Working Paper
Author: Roland G. Fryer, Jr

Abstract:The racial achievement gap in education is an important social problem to which decades of research have yielded no scalable solutions. Recent evidence from “No Excuses” charter schools – which demonstrates that some combination of school inputs can educate the poorest minority children – offers a guiding light. In the 2010-2011 school year, we implemented five strategies gleaned from best practices in “No Excuses” charter schools – increased instructional time, a more rigorous approach to building human capital, more student-level differentiation, frequent use of data to inform instruction, and a culture of high expectations – in nine of the lowest performing middle and high schools in Houston, Texas.

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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

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 our website

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

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