-The Hindu A proposed legislation to make the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) a statutory body, the draft of which is in circulation among the States for comments, has made Education Department officials of States apprehensive. They fear that it will result in hundreds of elite schools affiliated to the Board going completely beyond their monitoring mechanism. While the rules of the Right to Education (RTE) Act give an important role...

-Accountability Initiative The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Government of India's (GOI) flagship elementary education programme. Launched in 2001, it aims to provide universal primary education to children between the ages of 6-14 years. SSA is now the primary vehicle for implementing the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE). This brief uses government reported data to analyse SSA performance along the following parameters: a) Overall trends in allocation and expenditures b)...

-The Hindu State’s women’s policy draft includes amendments in treatment of transgenders Pune: Women and children in Maharashtra will now have the freedom to use any surname of their choice, the government has said in the draft of the State’s women’s policy released here on Friday. In another first, the draft also includes policy changes for the treatment of transgenders. The government has sought suggestions and recommendations from the citizens for the next two...

-Deccan Herald Bangalore: The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has recommended increasing the age for admission to schools under the RTE quota from the current six years to seven, and reducing the income ceiling to Rs one lakh from Rs 3.5 lakh. The suggestions were made during a workshop organised by the Commission in the City on Saturday. The workshop was organised in accordance with a February 12 High...

-The Hindu In Nagaland, you will find women running commercial establishments, teaching in university, campaigning against alcohol abuse and toiling on terraced farms. You will even spot them sporting hard hats and shovelling gravel next to a road-roller repairing roads. The only place where you won’t find a woman is the State Assembly. Poignant reminder On International Women’s Day, it is a poignant reminder of how women are still struggling to gain a...