Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Fwd: [se-ed] DISCUSSION: Replicating Innovative Indian Experiences forImplementation of Right to Education. Reply by 10 February 2010.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nayana RenuKumar <nayanarenu@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: [se-ed] DISCUSSION: Replicating Innovative Indian Experiences forImplementation of Right to Education. Reply by 10 February 2010.
To: Education Community <se-ed@solutionexchange-un.net.in>


Dear Members,

This query pertains to educational and employment opportunities for students belonging to weaker sections of our society. Governments at the centre and in the states have adopted several measures over the past 60 years for improving the opportunities available to students of disadvantaged sections. Yet, the socio-economic status of these groups is still far from satisfactory. Several studies in the past have looked into issues faced by students of weaker sections in securing better education and employment opportunities. Many conclude that despite securing admissions for Higher education, most students belonging to the disadvantaged groups fail to complete their respective courses. This is largely due to their social background, uneven chances given that the recruiters themselves carry a discriminatory mind-set and due to the so-called 'lack of soft skills' (Deshpande, EPW,October 2007). Even those who complete their education, most often settle for lesser paying government jobs than pursuing gainful private sector career opportunities chosen by non-reservation students with comparable education. Discrimination, financial difficulties, limited networking possibilities, inadequate information and inadequate grooming are the main reasons cited for their failure in securing private sector jobs.

In order to facilitate better knowledge base on career opportunities in the private sector and to groom themselves accordingly, Centre for Good Governance is working to create an online information sharing mechanism (a portal) to guide such students to improve their educational chances and employment opportunities. The proposed portal plans to provide them information on major courses, scholarships, vacancies and self-improvement skills. More importantly, the portal will also have a mechanism to track students for any chances of dropping out so that these issues are addressed on time.

Towards this end, we would like to know the following from the members of this Community:
  • Apart from job quota, what other measures are required to ensure that all students have equal opportunity in private sector employment? Members may please site innovative experiments that have worked well elsewhere
  • What are the major challenges faced by students from weaker sections in pursuing higher education and securing post-university employment esp. in the private sector? What all need to be included in the online portal to mitigate their disadvantageous position and facilitate their easy access to such opportunities?
  • What could be the major components of an online portal that aims to guide and facilitate students from disadvantaged communities to achieve their academic and professional goals? Broadly in consultation with students, we plan to include the following components,:
·         Information on all colleges (State / Country)
·         Details of scholarships for higher education in the country and abroad
·         Tips for enhancing soft skills
·         Student's discussion forum and/ or blog
·         Facilitate alumni formation and information sharing among them
·         Online mentoring by Seniors in the field

  • The inherent assumption behind this portal is that lack of information prevents students of weaker sections from achieving success and that online information dissemination can effectively compliment, and even replace, the traditional way in which Governments disseminate information to these students. We would like to know the members' views on the potential of this initiative to reach out to the students.


Nayana RenuKumar
Centre for Good Governance
Hyderabad

From: Radhika Herzberger [mailto:radhika@rishivalley.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 4:02 PM
To: 'Education Community'
Subject: [se-ed] DISCUSSION: Replicating Innovative Indian Experiences forImplementation of Right to Education. Reply by 10 February 2010.

Moderator's Note: Dear Members, we are initiating discussion on learning from the innovative initiatives in order to implement Right to Education Act, the historical legal commitment by Government of India to provide for free and compulsory education to all children of the Country. As a community of practitioners interested in sharing, linking and learning, we all are aware of the importance of knowledge in helping us improve our interventions. India has a range of very innovative – creative experiments with a huge potential to learn from and replicate. This discussion would help us in sharing ways and methods to hold hands of the government in shouldering the responsibility to make available quality education to all children.

We are happy to announce that Dr. Radhika Herzberger, a well known name amongst the people working in the field of education in India and across the borders, has agreed to Guest Moderate this discussion. Dr. Radhika Herzberger teaches history and presently serves as Director of Rishi Valley Education Centre, a pioneering educational initiative in the Country. As an educational thinker, philosopher and practitioner she has in her credit a number of well acclaimed books written on various aspects of education. Her out of the box thinking and reflection on the challenges in education and the pragmatic approach to shape those ideas in the form of action has been widely received, studied and used by interventions all over.

We look forward to a stimulating discussion on the issue.

Shubhangi  

Dear Friends,

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 received the assent of the President of India in August 2009.  The main provisions of the Act can be found at; web link http://education.nic.in/Elementary/free%20and%20compulsory.pdf  (Size 1.48 MB)

The debates on the Right to Education, especially in Solution Exchange, has been on

The Consolidated Replies with respect to each of the discussion list some innovations in education, and discuss critical issues pertaining to the Right to Education (RTE)

We at the Rishi Valley School believe that education is the one most critical aspect of human development that impacts all social and economic development in a country and across the world.  Now that the right to education has been enacted, and the government is fully committed to finding the solution to reaching large numbers, we feel it is important to engage in a serious discourse on the quality of education that we provide to children, especially at the primary level.

We would therefore request inputs from the members of the education community on the following key aspects of quality of education: 
  • How can the government be supported to improve the motivation and skills of existing teachers in government schools?
  • Moreover, are there effective ways of bringing into the pool of teachers who are trained and motivated a large number of youths with graduate degrees (sometimes even 'teacher qualifications'), who are currently unemployed?
  • The Rishi Valley School's Rural Education Centre works with a methodology, which has been replicated and scaled up in both rural and urban locales within India, and has been nationally and internationally acclaimed (URL). There are many such methodologies worth replicating. Please share the teaching methodologies you have used and found useful in enabling high quality learning  teaching and monitoring systems, and which can be scaled up by government schools. 
  • Our belief is that school education must continue to be the responsibility of the state and the state must invest in improving its own capacity to deliver.  We would invite comments from members on how official resources are best directed in the implementation of the RTE Act:  
·   In government schools
·   Through NGOs and educational foundations
·   Through Public-Private Partnership (PPPS) with for-profit educational organization

Such a discussion will help reputed educational organizations to provide pro-active support to the government in implementation of RTEA, and help direct official resources towards high quality education, that is innovative and suited to local needs. Post discussion, it is also proposed to bring together a group of reputed educational institutions within the country to share the lessons from these approaches, and brainstorm to scale these up in different parts of the country as appropriate?  The new approaches can be incubated with NGOs working in partnership with government schools, and government resources can be allocated to these.

Regards

Radhika Herzberger and A. Kumaraswamy
Rishi Valley School
Madanapalle, Chittoor District
Andhra Pradesh
(www.rishivalley.org)




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