| SCHOOL CHOICE CAMPAIGN: RIGHT TO EDUCATION OF CHOICE! |
| School Vouchers for Girls Pilot Launched
The event was truly unique in that it not only enabled poor parents to send their children to English medium private schools but also empowered them to exercise their choice in an informed manner by providing them with necessary knowledge. The event was graced by the presence of local community leaders including Mr Divya Jaiswal (former Deputy Mayor Delhi), ward councilors Ms Uma Gangwar (Welcome Colony), Mr Vipin Kumar Sharma (Janta Colony) and Ms Bimla Sharma (Babarpur). School Vouchers for Girls seeks to demonstrate the efficacy of the voucher idea in eradicating gender-based discrimination and in increasing parental involvement in the education of their children. By targeting a traditionally disadvantaged group - girl children from socio-economically disadvantaged families - this project hopes to demonstrate the empowerment potential of school vouchers while presenting a voucher model that governments can adopt to cater to the education needs special interest groups. |
| STUDENT FIRST! Dialogue Series on Quality Education for All The School Choice School Choice Campaign and India Habitat Centre launched Student First! Dialogue Series, a monthly forum for debate by the nation's foremost experts on national education policies and solutions to problems of quality in the education sector on 8 July 2009. The series will usher, for the first time in the country, a sustained constructive collaboration of ideas between the policy makers, leading economists, school leaders and other key stakeholders like parents, educationists, civil society bodies, NGOs working on education and the youth. July: School Board Exams: Assessment or Harassment?
August: School Fee Hike: What is the real problem? September: Right to Education: Will it be enough?
For further information on the legislation, analysis and research visit http://schoolchoice.in/campaigns/rte.php October: School Admission Reforms: Why, What, How?
On behalf of the parents, Mr Rajan Arora presented the Charter to Mr RC Jain who agreed that his schools would abide by majority of the points raised. The forum also saw the formal launch of Action for School Admission Reforms (ASAR) 2009. |
Action for School Admission Reforms (ASAR) 2009 Launched School Choice Campaign and nurseryadmissions.com have come together once again to press for the school admission reforms. As part of our collaboration with the Directorate of Education (DoE), ASAR runs a helpdesk for parents to lodge complaints, even anonymously, against unscrupulous schools. All complaints will be sent to the Directorate of Education (DoE) for them to act on and pressurize such establishments to bring about necessary changes. The help desk opened on 14 October (during the Student First! October dialogue) can be reached at 099530 59097 between 9:30 am and 6:00 pm (Monday-Friday) and at delhiasar@gmail.com. Parents can also send their complaints or reform ideas through www.schoolchoice.in or www.nurseryadmissions.com If you are not from Delhi and parents in your city too are suffering, please bring it to our notice. We will help build pressure on the concerned players to reform. Write to Renu at delhiasar@gmail.com |
| REMOVING BARRIERS TO LIVELIHOOD |
| JEEVIKA Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival 2009 The 2009 winners are:
Kriti Film Club facilitated a panel discussion on the 28 August on "Documentaries: Changing Realities". |
Jeevika Nukkad Natak
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| BAMBOO IS NOT A TREE! Sign Petition Now |
| REDUCING WASTE, FRAUD & ABUSE IN PUBLIC GOVERNANCE |
| Delhi Citizen Handbook 2009 Launched The extensive research for DCH 2009 was made possible by 21 young student researchers and the book is a compilation of our studies on close to 30 departments, agencies, boards and issues that ignite public debate in Delhi today. The Handbook makes constructive and bold recommendations for improving the quality and effectiveness of governance and follows-up on some of the recommendations made in our previous books edition of 2003 and 2006. DCH 2009 is available online for free download and is also available for sale for Rs 500 per copy. If you wish to buy or know more about the Handbook and the 2009 interns please contact Mr Amit Chandra at amit@ccs.in. |
| BRINGING THE BEST OF LIBERAL THINKING TO HINDIBHASIS |
www.azadi.me launched Three broad categories of the portal provide extensive information and interactive avenues to connect the reader: Classics (literary works of some of the best known liberal thinkers and writers from around the world) Commentary (news, views and reviews of current issues) and Public Policy (analysis of legislations, campaigns and ideas for innovative and sustainable policy solutions. The portal will be a powerful and effective medium to communicate with policy makers and the Hindi media, which has a much wider reach than the English media in India. For editorial queries email at azadi@ccs.in |
| Economic Freedom of the World: 2009 Annual Report |
| Announcements |
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The
inaugural dialogue on 8 July revolved around a provocative topic of
School Board Exams following the announcement made by Mr Kapil Sibal
to scrap 10th boards as one of the innovative reforms in the education
sector. The discussion saw the coming together of two prominent educational
experts representing the government and private perspectives? Mrs
Gauri Ishwaran, Founder Principal of Sanskriti and recipient
of the Padma Bhushan in 2004 and Dr Janaki Rajan, former
Director of SCERT Delhi and Professor of Education Jamia Milia University.
The evening's discussion highlighted the improper mode and misguided
nature of assessment that is prevalent in our schools today. Both panelists
agreed that the trauma caused by examination method of assessment is
extraordinary and that, perhaps, it was time to take a serious relook
at the service rendered by the board examinations, especially at Class
X level. 
School
Choice Campaign brought together the fiercest of the spokespersons of
the two major parties concerned- the parents and the schools- Mr
Surinder Gupta, President, Unrecognised Schools Association,
Mr Ashok Aggarwal, Advocate and Advisor, Social Jurist
and Mr S L Jain, President, National Progressive Schools
Conference during the panel discussion on 8 August. Other eminent members
of the audience present included Prof P V Indiresan, (former Director,
IIT Chennai and Padma Bhusan recipient), Ms Annie Koshi (St Mary) and
Mr Vijender Gupta (former Chairman of MCD Standing Committee on Education).
With the active representation of the Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh, other
parents associations, public policy experts and school leaders, the
discussion entertained all view points. At the end of the 60 minute
discussion, the panelists agreed that there should be greater representation
of parents on the schools' Management Committees as well as more transparency
in the management of private schools.
The
promise, potential and pitfalls of the historic legislation of the Right
of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2009 were central
to the Student First! September Dialogue on 9 September 2009. Mr
Sam Carlson, Lead Education Specialist - World Bank, addressed
the 'quality' aspect of the legislation. Ms G Syamala,
Executive Director - Action for Ability Development and Inclusion, shared
her experiences working with the government to make the RTE Bill more
inclusive, and outlined the challenges faced by children with disabilities.
Ms Yamini Aiyar, Director - Accountability Initiative
(Centre for Policy Research), presented her views on how the accountability
of the fundamental Right to Education will be guaranteed by this legislation
and strongly impressed upon the need for local monitoring of this right.
At
the onset of the nursery admission season, a panel discussion on School
Admission Reforms was organized by SCC to address the acute problems
faced by the parents and well as the grievances of the schools in order
to evolve long-term solutions to existing problems in school admission
process in Delhi. Representing parents was Mr Rajan Arora, Founder,
For
the first time, CCS put together a street theatre troupe comprising
of students from various colleges of Delhi under the direction of Mr
Arvind Gaur, Resident Director, ASMITA, one of the leading
Hindi theatre groups in the country. The Jeevika Nukkad Natak scripted
on the Jeevika theme of Livelihood Campaign focused on the plight of
domestic workers and how they have been completely evaded from the purview
of any laws governing wages or labor. The plays also highlighted issues
of child labor and sexual abuse of domestic workers. Street plays were
performed in 
CCS
launched the Bamboo petition on the occassion of the World Bamboo Day
on 18 September 2009 as an advocacy initiative to enable people dependent
on Bamboo for their livelihood. This issue was highlighted by one of
the Jeevika 2008 winning documentary Hollow Cylinder. 
On
the 62nd anniversary of India's Independence, CCS launched India's first
Liberal portal in Hindi, 
India
ranked 86 in the 