Pakistan may take leaf out of CBSE book
Times of India, 29 November 2011

KARACHI/NEW DELHI: India’s education reforms may serve as a blueprint for the sub-continent. The CBSE’s ambitious new system of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), in place of a single-board exam, is gathering steam not just in India, but in neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bhutan, too. Vineet Joshi, chairman of the CBSE board, has already sent a presentation on the CCE to Bhutan and is in the process of sending it to the Aga Khan University Examination Board in Pakistan.

More [+]

Indian education, employment sector – a study in contrasts
Economic Times, 26 November 2011

The yin and the yang of Indian education and employment sectors present a fascinating study in contrasts. Speak to an educationist and you will be swept away on the rising tide of optimism generated by a groundswell of enrolment. Talk to anyone in the private sector and you will get an earful about labour shortages. Labour market outcomes also present a similarly confusing picture. In the 1980s, a college graduate had over 70% probability of finding a white-collar job. This dropped to less than 50% in the last decade

More [+]

Education in early age underlined
IBNLive, 28 November 2011

BHUBANESWAR: Ignoring the early six years of a child’s life in terms of education can be damaging for the child’s future. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) focuses on these aspects. Under the Right of the Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, zero to six years of age does not come under the ambit of compulsory education. Only children in six to 14 years of age have the right to free and compulsory education under the Act.

More [+]

Omnia invests Rs 7 crore in early-stage education firms
Economic Times, 22 November 2011

BANGALORE: Omnia Investments, the venture fund set up by the promoters of Spice Mobility, has made its maiden investment in two earlystage startups. The fund has invested Rs 7 crore in candidate assessment venture Single Stop and in higher education firm Sunstone for a significant minority stake. Omnia Investments was launched less than a year ago by Dilip Modi, Managing Director of the $2-billion (Rs 10,000 crore) mobility product and retail conglomerate Spice Mobility, with an initial corpus of Rs 20 crore.

More [+]

IIITs give nod to single national-level entrance test
Times of India, 28 November 2011

NEW DELHI: Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) have given its approval to the proposed single national-level entrance test for admission to undergraduate programme for science and engineering. At a meeting of the directors of these premier institutes here on Monday, chaired by HRD minister Kapil Sibal, a proposal to have a council for the IIITs was also accepted.

More [+]

Miami’s Teach for America Strives to Improve Reading & Math Scores
Fox News, 27 November 2011

Teach for America is doing all in its power to give students in Miami a better education. In a distressed neighborhood north of Miami’s gleaming downtown, a group of enthusiastic but inexperienced instructors from Teach for America is trying to make progress where more veteran teachers have had difficulty: raising students’ reading and math scores. “These are the lowest performing schools, so we need the strongest performing teachers,” said Julian Davenport, an assistant principal at Holmes Elementary, where three-fifths of the staff this year are Teach for America corps members or graduates of the program.

More [+]

Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value
The Washington Post, 27 November 2011

A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight. K12 Inc. of Herndon has become the country’s largest provider of full-time public virtual schools, upending the traditional American notion that learning occurs in a schoolhouse where students share the experience.

More [+]

Improving the school-to-work transition for vocational students – What can we learn from research?
Research
Author: Lena

Abstract: Many countries have had to tackle escalating youth unemployment in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, but compared with other countries in the European Union, youth unemployment has increased particularly sharply in Sweden. Currently, Swedish 20-24 year olds are more than three times as likely to be unemployed than are adult workers, which is the greatest such ratio within the EU-15.

More [+]

Does School Autonomy Make Sense Everywhere? Panel Estimates from Pisa
Research: Working Paper
Authors: Hanushek, Link & Woessmann

Abstract: Decentralization of decision-making is among the most intriguing recent school reforms, in part because countries went in opposite directions over the past decade and because prior evidence is inconclusive. We suggest that autonomy may be conducive to student achievement in well-developed systems but detrimental in low-performing systems.

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

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]

This is our 164th edition. Please write in with your feedback at [email protected]

Disclaimer: Copyright of the contents of this newsletter remains with the original author/publisher.