-DNA Are Gujarat’s literate really literate? Chief minister Narendra Modi might have announced his vision at Vibrant Gujarat Summit of exporting teachers globally to impact the society in coming years, but there is a big hitch. He does not seem to be aware that the current crop of teachers in Gujarat have not succeeded in effectively educating the children here. The Annual Status of Education Report - 2012, released on Thursday has...

-The Telegraph Bengal leads in dependence on private tuition but bottom of the pack in basics More schoolchildren in Bengal take private tuition than in most other states but they are anything but the best when tested for basic reading and arithmetic skills, a national survey has revealed. Although the survey by the NGO Pratham focused on schoolchildren going to government institutions in the districts, teachers say students of the top Schools...

-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...

-The Indian Express Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and two IAS officers were among 55 people convicted by a special CBI court in New Delhi Wednesday of illegally recruiting teachers in 1999. All 55 convicts in the case, known as the JBT (Junior Basic Trained teachers) recruitment scam, were taken into judicial custody and sent to Tihar jail until January 22, when the court is scheduled...

-The Indian Express The dismal picture painted in Pratham’s latest Annual Status of Education Report must provoke policymakers to urgently assess and tackle the crisis in India’s primary school education. Pratham, an NGO, has done stellar work these past years in surveying the learning outcomes in Schools countrywide. Its 2012 report details a rapid decline in students’ ability to keep up with the syllabus. It has found, for example, that only...