Reliance on CSR, philandhropic funds 'wouldn't help' raise educational standards

By A Representative
Addressing media in Delhi, Ambarish Rai, national convener of the Right to Education (RTE) Forum, commenting on the draft New Education Policy (NEP), has regretted “poor implementation of the RTE Act, 2009 despite nearly 10 years of its enforcement.” He said, public investment on education has been going down, and should immediately be “reversed” to at least 6% of GDP.
Welcoming the draft NEP, he said, inclusion of 3-18 years in the RTE Act “has been our long-standing demand”, but expressed disappointment over “increasing privatisation of education”, even as objecting to sharp reliance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds and philanthropic institutions.
Prof Muchkund Dubey, former chief secretary and president, Council for Social Development, said, while “elementary education is now a fundamental right”, increasing reliance of volunteers through programmes like Remedial Instructional Aids Programme (RIAP) and National Tutoring Programme (NTP) “will lead to informalisation of education.” He added, there should be reliance on trained qualified teachers as enshrined in the RTE Act, 2009.
Shatrughan Prasad Singh, Ex MP, general secretary, Bihar Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh and All India Secondary Teachers’ Federation, said the government should ensure equitable and qualitative education for all children, adding, oosening of RTE Act norms will “further widen the gaps between the haves and have-nots.
Rampal Singh, president, All India Primary Teachers’ Association, said that nearly 11 lakh teachers’ posts were lying vacant in the country and these “need to filled up”, adding, “There is no mention of the Common School System in the entire policy document.”

Sumitra Mishra of the Alliance from Right to Early Childhood Development saod that the policy document talks about learning crisis “but fails to realise that this is because of systemic failure and not the failure of children.”

The media conference was organized by RTE Forum, a civil rights organization.

Ahmedabad world’s least climate resilient major city: AlphaGeo study

By Rajiv Shah A new study has ranked Ahmedabad as the least climate-resilient major city in the world , highlighting a dangerous gap between the city’s extreme physical vulnerability to climate hazards and its capacity to adapt. Cited by The New York Times , the analysis, conducted by geospatial artificial intelligence firm AlphaGeo , places the Indian city at the top of a list of global urban centres most exposed to climate risk.

The making of a self-made woman: How eighty sheep changed everything for Kalawati Ninama

By Vikas Meshram* About forty-two kilometres from Rajasthan's Banswara district, in the tribal heartland of Ghatol block, lies the small village of Ubapana. This is where Kalawati Ninama, her husband Dhulji, and their four children make their home. Their days unfold much like those of their neighbours—bustling mornings, long hours of farm labour through the afternoon, and evenings spent tending livestock. For this family, farming and livestock were once simply a means of putting food on the table. Today, they have become the sturdy foundation of something far greater: genuine self-sufficiency.

India has spent billions on skilling. Where are the jobs?

By Vikas Gupta India loves the photograph of a certificate ceremony. A minister on a stage. A banner bearing the word “skill.” Young people holding folders that promise a future. It is a reassuring image because it tells us the problem has a manageable answer: train the young, make them job-ready, and work will follow.

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