Pupils with disabilities ‘ignored’
Mail & Guardian Online, 6 December 2011

Two weeks ago an alliance of non-governmental organisations in the children and disability sectors hosted a seminar on the “Right to Education for Children with Disabilities in South Africa”. At about the same time the National Planning Commission released its National Development Plan, which has a whole chapter on education — yet we see no plan there for improving access to education for children with disabilities.

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The rise of flexi-schooling
The Guardian, 5 December 2011

It’s Friday morning at Arzu Tahsin’s terraced house in east London and her daughter and three other classmates form a line at the bottom of the stairs before heading to a first-floor studio, where they find a table spread with a sheet of thick paper. When the children have scrambled on to chairs, Tahsin takes charge of the lesson: “Today we’re going to make something called a step book.”

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Private schools to provide free meals for poor?
India Today, 5 December 2011

If the Planning Commission were to have its way then private schools will soon have to assume greater responsibility in educating children of economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society. Apart from reserving 25 per cent of their seats for the EWS category under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, unaided schools – the plan panel feels – should now also provide free meals to these underprivileged students.

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PIL against Kannada schools’ closure
Deccan Herald, 3 December 2011

Eminent literary personalities and Jnanapith award winners in the State have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court seeking quashing of the gazette notification orde¬ring closure of Kannada schools with inadequate students. The matter may co¬me up for hearing on Monday. The petitioners, G S Shivarudrappa, Girish Karnad, Chandrashekar Kambar and U R Ananthmurthy have stated that thousands of students would be deprived of education if these schools were closed.

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India faces shortage of over 4.6 lakh classrooms
Economic Times, 2 December 2011

NEW DELHI: The government today said there was a considerable shortage of classrooms both at elementary and secondary level schools in the country. “It’s estimated that approximately 2.91 lakh classrooms at elementary level and 1.77 lakh at secondary stage of education are required,” Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeswari said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

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Over Regulation Keeps Foreign Universities Out of India
Forbes, 5 December 2011

Q Do you see yourself in India soon, if the Foreign Universities Bill is passed?
Not now. We are trying for a 1,000-student capacity campus in Singapore, and we will see how that goes. Based on the success of this project, and the passage of the Foreign Universities Bill in the Indian Parliament, we can look at setting up a campus here in the next five years, but it has to be on a bigger scale. As of now, I see mostly the middle rung universities coming here.

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New initiatives to strengthen vocational education
Times of India, 2 December 2011

NEW DELHI: With the aim to strengthen vocational education curriculum and instructor training in India through industry relevant train-the-trainer curriculum and materials development, Jindal Education Initiatives, Wadhwani Foundation and Montgomery College (MC), USA have entered into a strategic partnership on Friday. Recognition of India’s need to increase the numbers of educated and skilled young adults to compete in an increasingly globalised, knowledge-based economy is the focus of the MoU.

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Indian School of Business gets global recognition
Times of India, 5 December 2011

NEW DELHI: The Indian School of Business (ISB) announced its accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), making it the first B-school in South Asia to be recognised by this global body on Monday. This acknowledgement by the oldest and longest serving global accrediting body for business schools implies that ISB now joins the exclusive league of the world’s best business schools. The AACSB accreditation has been earned by less than 5 per cent of the world’s B-schools.

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Do Vouchers for Job Training Programs Help?
Research
The World Bank

Abstract: Youth unemployment is a problem in many developing countries, where labor market opportunities may be further squeezed by rapid rural migration into big cities, the cost of higher education and job seekers’ limited information about the best opportunities. Policymakers and aid organizations trying to reduce youth unemployment have a variety of approaches they can use, including vocational training programs to give job seekers necessary skills to be employed.

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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

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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