Some 57 million children still do not go to school, 500 million girls will never finish the secondary education to which they are entitled and 750 million adults remain illiterate.

The link between education and economic success makes the delivery of quality schooling and training a hugely important issue for business as well. By 2020, according to the McKinsey Global Institute, we will face the twin problems of a shortfall of up to 40 million high-skill workers and a surplus of up to 95 million low-skill workers. By 2030, the global workforce of 3.5 billion will include an estimated one billion workers who lack a secondary education, significantly hindering their country’s economic prospects.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201312030495.html?page=2

very interesting model

Padmanabhan and a bunch of her students have compiled all data, perhaps for the very first time in India, on how to access essential e-governance services, which a woman would need during her lifetime, offered by the Kerala Government, online.

The data, arranged in a life cycle pattern from birth to death, has been published in the form of a 30-page handbook called e-Jaalakam. The book, which took six months to compile was released on September 10. It became a roaring success when it hit schools and households in the city and would soon be introduced across Kerala. “We just wanted to make people know, especially women, on how to access basic government services. How will you download birth, marriage and death certificates? How to track case status in Kerala High Court, files in the government offices, check status or make changes on Aaadhar or ration card? There are many such questions, the answers of which are available online but many of us are ignorant about them. So we made a databank which can guide people to access these services online,” explains the 48-year-old.
…
The handbook literally means handholding people, especially women, into participatory governance and increases their clout in decision making. Economically, once a significant user group starts accessing government schemes online, the project can become a major reason for more transparency and less corruption, which means more economic efficiency for the government.
…
Seeing the potential of the project, the Kerala State E-Governance Mission and the State IT Mission have already extended its support in training students of St Teresa’s and to publish copies of their handbook. The Federal Bank and Rainbow Publications has also come out to support the venture. The IT@School Project has agreed to arrange classes for school students,  based on this handbook.

http://newindianexpress.com/education/edex/E-Jaalakam-for-Educating-Eves/2013/12/02/article1919938.ece

Interesting initiative; I wonder how, or if, this can be scaled up

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has initiated efforts to educate children of destitute people who stay in its night shelters in the city. To begin with, six of them have already been enrolled in a municipal school at Dwarakanagar over the last two days.

The six students, including two girls, are children of destitutes that take shelter at the TSR Complex in the city.

…

At present, 143 destitute people who migrated from various parts of the state as well as neighbouring states such as Odisha stay in the two night shelters in the city at Bheemnagar, which accommodates 65 people, and TSR Complex, which provides shelter to 78 people, said Association for Regional Tribal Development (ARTD) urban wing secretary Pragada Srinivasu.

“Many people migrated to the city because of family disputes and other reasons. ARTD, in association with GVMC, put all these wandering destitutes in the two night shelters and ensured daily wage employment. However, to prevent their children from taking up labour work or becoming beggars, we have identified six children so far and enrolled them in a GVMC school. Four other children are yet to join school,” Srinivasu told TOI.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/visakhapatnam/GVMC-enrolls-destitute-children-into-schools/articleshow/26378752.cms

interesting model…

Every year, when people migrate out of Koppal in search of a better life, homes are left in shambles. “Families break down and children can’t study,” she explained. The Devadasi issue rapidly worsened, with children as young as five being married off.

“That broke my heart,” she said. Sampark then undertook the mission of integrating these Devadasi women into the mainstream, pulling them out of isolated clusters within which they lived and involving them with the co-operatives.

Poverty, however, runs through generations. The only way to put a stop to this was education. Loans and grants are distributed to families of migrant workers who stay behind in their villages.

The education committee, comprising women from the various self-help groups, is in charge of monitoring the kids closely, intervening if a child shows the tendency to drop out of school. “There is plenty of support for education, but it is always given to the meritorious students,” she said.

“Now what’s the point of that? It’s the kids who drop out and fail each year that need our help the most. They’re most likely the ones with family problems, too.” This meant working with the poorest of the poor, the handful of unfortunates who fall below every net.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130923/news-current-affairs/article/educate-child-alleviate-migrant%E2%80%99s-misery

The competence and confidence in Indian languages strongly influences the ability of children to learn and read in English, according to a study of primary children in India which was conducted by the British Council and Pratham, a charity organisation.

The study, titled ‘English Impact Report: Investigating English Language Learning Outcomes at the Primary School Level in Rural India’, was released at the British Council here on Wednesday.

…

She added: “The evidence also shows that children’s competence and confidence in one language strongly influences their capability in other languages so it is vital that the power of these links is considered within the context of language teaching.” 

…

“Looking at the evidence it is essential that we review and rework our expectations and our teaching-learning practices to fit in with what children can do and what, as a country, we want them to learn,” she added. 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/multi-lingual-indian-children-learn-english-faster-finds-study/article1-1151408.aspx