-The Hindu After a prolonged struggle with low enrolment rates for children in the school-going age, India now has to come to grips with another crucial issue: poor learning outcomes for students in the six to 14 age group. National data on this is not comprehensive, but available empirical evidence points to weak achievements for a significant percentage of students. In rural India, which is more disadvantaged, the highest level of...

A war of words has erupted between the chief ministers of Bihar and Gujarat. Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar has slammed Narendra Modi for taking potshots at the state's slow socio-economic growth. The altercation began with Modi saying that caste politics has ruined states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Hitting back, Nitish has said that Modi should look at the conditions in his own state before criticising others. For the last...

Jamshedpur, June 10: For a people who have clung to next-door Bengal for healthcare for years, setting up a self-run school — English medium, no less — may well be just another way out of elusive state welfare measures. The 700-odd population of 19 villages that make up Gopalpur panchayat, 80km from Jamshedpur in East Singhbhum’s rebel-hit Baharagora block, have made up its mind to do just that. The primary schools, at...

-The Hindu The Central Advisory Board of Education has decided to constitute a committee to revisit the ‘no detention' provision under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The panel will submit a report in three months. The Advisory Board, at a meeting on Wednesday, also endorsed the government's initiative to create a Credit Guarantee Fund to provide better flow of credit to deserving students. The Rs. 5,000-crore...

-The Economic Times One of the most heartwarming films of 2011 centred on a child labourer who fitted in exceedingly well with his wealthier classmates at school. While a nasty teacher drives the child out of school in the celluloid imagining, in real life, a nasty education system threatens to drive such kids from the country's elite schools.  Among the most jarring arguments against a clause in the Right to Education (RTE)...