Budget schools offer quality education, get no government support
The Times of India, 28 Sep 2013

An initiative of the Delhi-based Centre for Civil Society (CCS), NISA links 7,000 "low-fee and budget private schools" across 20 states. Leaders of budget schools argued that the RTE Act conflates quality education with quality infrastructure. "In the RTE Act, quality is represented as the area the school should cover, teacher's salary and pupil-teacher ratio. The criteria are laid differently," said Amitav Virmani of Absolute Return for Kids (UK) and trustee of two family-run budget schools in Delhi.

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Delhi government asked to decide on change in rules for nursery admission
NDTV, 25 Sep 2013

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Manmohan disposed of a PIL while directing Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to take a decision within 12 weeks on the representation of Social Jurist, a civil rights group, seeking amendment in the Recognised Schools (Admission Procedure for Pre-Primary Class) Order, 2007.

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Poor Indians Prove Amartya Sen Wrong
The Wall Street Journal, 26 Sep 2013

Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen sure has a low opinion of India's poor. In an interview with Mint newspaper published on July 23, Mr. Sen was asked about cash-transfer programs such as education vouchers. "If you are a peasant farmer and have never been to school, your ability to choose on the basis of information is very limited. Given the asymmetry of information, you'll never be able to get there," he said.

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London School of Economics hails Bihar’s bicycle policy
The Times of India, 24 Sep 2013

Researchers from the International Growth Centre Karthik Muralidharan from the University of California and Nishith Prakash from the University of Connecticut analyzed the policy to see if had made any impact on the ground. The findings were heartening.

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Female education linked to under-5 mortality rate
The Hindu, 25 Sep 2013

India and Nigeria account for more than a third of child deaths worldwide. If all women in both countries had completed secondary education, the under-five mortality rate would have been 61 per cent lower in India and 43 per cent lesser in Nigeria, saving 1.35 million children’s lives.

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Education tech start-ups: No longer the ‘sleepy’ crowd
The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Sep 2013

Education is a notoriously underfunded industry, and ed tech isn’t known to generate massive returns. Hammond admits ed tech companies likely won’t see a huge payout on the scale of a Pinterest or Facebook, but can attract a number of moderate returns since there are so many niches. More so, she says “there is a lot of interest in this generation about meaningful work.”

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UPA plans Rs. 3 lakh crore boost for education
Hindustan Times, 01 Oct 2013

To beat BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi claims on governance, the UPA government will soon unveil its major educational reform plan worth Rs. 3 lakh crore.

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3,200 UAE Students Enrolled In UK Universities
Gulf Business News, 30 Sep 2013

An increasing number of UAE students are opting for an education in the United Kingdom with 19 per cent of the 18,500 GCC students studying in universities there.That's according to Marc Jessel, the country director of British Council, who says a total of 3,200 UAE students are currently pursuing their college degree in the UK. Speaking at the Education UK Exhibition 2013, Jessel said that educational ties between the UAE and the UK have strengthened over the past few decades.

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As the demand for education increases, resources remain scarce. In most countries, the government is both the major financier as well as the provider of education. However, schooling still does not reach all members of society equally. The public sector, unlike the government does not necessarily need to promote and finance education. Therefore, in some countries there are other providers, such as religious schools, home schools, and private schools - which are both for-profit and not-for-profit.  One way of financing education is to provide families with the funding – via cash transfers to schools based on enrollments or by providing cash to families to purchase schooling – in other words- through vouchers. The objective of a voucher program is to extend the financial support from the government to these other education providers and thus give all parents, regardless of income, the opportunity to choose the school that best suits their preferences.  Click here to read more.

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)
A comprehensive analysis on reservation in private schools under the Right to Education Act, providing a seven-step model for 25% implementation.

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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