-The Indian Express Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) tells us every year that teaching-learning at our primary schools is quite a disappointment. This time, however, it is shocking. ASER 2012 reveals the ‘path breaking’ Right to Education Act may have worked to further bring down learning levels by several notches. Aimed at ensuring free and compulsory education for all aged between 6 and 14, the RTE in its zeal to...

-Pratirodh Bureau With the mercury plummeting, thousands of homeless people continue to bear the harsh winter in the absence of sufficient night shelters in Jaipur city.   A survey released by the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), which voluntarily monitors the condition of night shelters, claims that 40% of these shelters have improper bedding facility. Also, many poor are still spending night in the open due to sufficient shelters.   Here is the survey...

-PTI Raipur: Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today said providing toilet to women in the country will instill a sense of confidence, self respect and security among them. It is shameful that 60 per cent of women in the country still defecate in open and there was a shortage of toilets in the country, he told reporters here. In the backdrop of recent incidents of violence against women, including the Delhi gang-rape case, the...

-Outlook Taking a strong stand against the statements made by some politicians after the Delhi gang rape incident, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today said such people should be asked to "go home". The minister said he felt "diminished as a human being" after the December incident which has hurt India's image across the world. "None of us have come out of this looking good. Personally as a man, as an Indian, I felt...

-The Indian Express The growing influence on policy issues of activists who call themselves “civil society” is a worrying trend and needs to be objectively analysed. Two recent policy pronouncements will illustrate how government seems to be yielding to their pressure. It is well established that absenteeism of teachers and poor quality of outcomes in government schools is the main factor behind the popularity of private schools with poor infrastructure that cater...