-The Hindu The economic vulnerabilities that confront households in the current sluggish recovery from the global meltdown are aggravating the fight against child labour, says the International Labour Organisation. Its latest report emphasises the need for universal coverage of at least a minimum level of social security to help some 215 million working children. Half that number is trapped in the worst forms of child labour - work akin to...

-The Hindu The Right to Education (RTE) Act turned three on March 31, 2013. It is certainly a short period to examine its efficacy, yet it is enough to give us a fair idea of the hurdles that are being faced and have to be tackled to get positive results. Most of these hurdles are attitudinal. The services of retired teachers are mostly sought for imparting "special training" to out-of-School Children...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: To hear the students describe it, the near-7km journey to secondary school in Tughlaqabad is an odyssey beset with a variety of dangers - errant auto-walas, major roads with heavy traffic, sexual harassment. Many opt out. Nearly 1,400 complete fifth grade from two municipal primary schools in I and F2 blocks of Sangam Vihar every year, and, till last session, nearly 500 would drop out...

-IPS News India's planners worry about ‘jobless growth', but perhaps nothing illustrates this phenomenon better than a policy of handing over the collection and disposal of the capital's refuse to large private corporations, leaving close to 50,000 ragpickers unemployed. For decades ragpickers provided a service to this city, scavenging waste for recyclable plastic, aluminium, glass and other materials, and earning a livelihood by selling their pickings to contractors with equipment to process...

-DNA Ahmedabad: Of three government schools of classes I to V surveyed in Kheda district, none maintained the pupil-room ratio according to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education. Similarly, 100% of the 12 schools surveyed in Kutch did not maintain the ratio. According to the RTE Act, 2009, every proposed classroom should have a carpet area of 8 sq feet for every student, in addition to a 60...