Jawaharlal Nehru did a huge amount for education in India. He gave us the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and much else. Yet, for a man whose birthday is celebrated as Children's Day, he had relatively little to do with primary schooling. The first Five Year Plan allocated just about Rs 12 crore for investment in primary education, out...

They are the children of migrant labourers, security guards, maids and gardeners for whom access to formal education would have been a distant goal, had it not been for two women who started Teaching them under a tree in Sector 56, two years ago. The twosome are effectively giving these underprivileged children their right to education without any fanfare. From a measly five-six students, their number has now grown to...

-Reuters On a hot afternoon, a bright orange bus drives into a slum area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, parking amidst shelters made of tarpaulins and bits of wood. Barefoot children come running, eyes shining, and troop inside.  It's a school on wheels that brings education to the doorstep of disadvantaged children such as these every day, halting for several hours at a time in different parts of...

Come November 11, the students at India’s 13 lakh government schools will receive a message from the Prime Minister. “Education gave me a new life,” it will say. “Education is the magic wand that can help us meet any challenge.” The written piece will be read out in the assembly at each school on that day, observed as National Education Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s first education minister, Maulana...

A retired IPS officer in Bihar JK Sinha has set up a free English-medium residential school to educate 200 young Musahar boys. It's a big step for the tribe which is one of the state's most backward communities. Every morning, the national anthem instills pride and courage in 120 inmates of the residential school. One of the students Pankaj said, "This school gives us all the basic amenities that a...