Archive for Education

This story originally appeared in the July 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Usha Ganesh

Mainstream education and education policies and programs let millions of children and adolescents slip through cracks that are often simple to spot but difficult to plug. In India, the Right to Education Act (RTE) has been a step forward to mobilize policy and public action to ensure primary education for all.  However, there is a need to take this further and explore the plight of those that cannot attend school because they have to work to survive or are, at this point in time, simply too old to benefit from the RTE. » Continue reading “Masoom Education: Transforming Night Schools”

Nilekani talked to Beyond Profit about her work in education, the next big issue in social enterprise in India and her session at the Sankalp Forum.

What do you hope comes out of your Indian impact investing sessions at Sankalp?

I hope I do a good job, of course. Certainly, I will learn much. Will it impact on creating new impact investors? Well, I hope it can deepen a debate.

In 2007, you said primary education in India was at a tipping point. Has it tipped?

Several milestones have been crossed since 2007. The RTE (Right to Education) is in place, the Ministry of HRD (Human Resource Development) has become active about the next level of education – secondary and tertiary. There is a clear governmental priority for quality of outcomes at all levels. Many nonprofit organizations and also for-profit entities remain very active. Best of all, parents are making smart choices for themselves on education for their children wherever they can. As always in India, you can do all that and there still remain formidable challenges. But I still maintain we have won the battle of ideas on primary education. Almost all children of this and future generations will complete primary school. We have to keep making sure they get their time’s worth and the joy of learning they deserve. » Continue reading “The Battle of Ideas”

Greg Mortenson’s bestseller Three Cups of Tea has inspired a US$100,000* donation from U.S. President Barack Obama to Mortenson’s non-profit, sold more than 4 million copies, been translated into more than a dozen languages and is required reading for U.S. soldiers heading to Afghanistan.

But are certain stories in the book fabricated?

According to a report aired last Sunday by 60 Minutes, they are. I’m not going to get into each allegation here, but what’s more troubling are the allegations against Mortenson’s non-profit, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), which he founded to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The allegations made by the 60 Minutes’ report include the fact that in its 14 years of operation, CAI has released only one audited financial statement. The segment also said that the organization spends more money domestically than it sends abroad. » Continue reading “Lessons in Transparency from Greg Mortenson”

By Natasha Khanna

In the past few years, organizations around the world have brought a new idea to the table for educating those who live in poverty: mobile learning. After all, according to the UN, half of the residents in remote areas around the world will own cell phones by 2012. This statistic seems to imply that, for a country like India—in which almost half of its population falls under the World Bank-defined poverty line of $1.25 a day—mobile learning could serve as a viable supplement to education, particularly in rural areas.

On the surface, a mobile learning platform has its advantages. A vast percentage of the population is familiar with the technology required to access mobile learning. Furthermore, students can engage with mobile learning at any time and from any location, thereby overcoming geographic barriers. In this regard, mobile learning is both an accessible and economical option to help educate India’s rural poor. » Continue reading “Mobile Learning: Worth the Effort?”

The cover story in our recent issue about education looked at investment opportunities in affordable public schools—schools that charge less than US$12 (INR600) per month. In response to that article, Bongu Bharat posted an article to his blog that garnered the following comment from Dr Vibhu Pal:

Our Society runs two A P S near Delhi. Although the schools are doing good, we are facing some tough problems:
Since the fees is low, the schools have been branded of low brand value in spite of the fact that education wise our Schools are fully equipped – trained staff, infra structure on par with branded schools, every year 100% result of our Board classes etc. Good schools are measured with the fees being charged. » Continue reading “Changing the Public View of Affordable Private Schools”

By Saumya Roy

If children don’t start going to school by the time they are six, they get busy with managing the house or find a job, surveys done by educational organisations have found. And while the recently passed Right To Education Act makes free and compulsory education the fundamental right of every child, it only covers children between six and 14.

This, activists say, is a drawback in the act because getting an education before six is crucial in developing language, cognitive and motor skills and is often the key to integrating them in to the school system. » Continue reading “Right to Education Should Include Children Under Six”

The Unreasonable Institute brings together 25 entrepreneurs with mentors and impact investors to help them jump start their enterprises. This year, 45 finalists were selected and final acceptance to the institute was based on an online fund-raising platform. Over the next two days, Beyond Profit brings you interviews with two of the enterprises that made it in.

Afroes Transformational Games uses mobile games to address issues of social justice in Africa such as children’s rights, HIV/AIDS, Gender Based Violence (GBV), conflict and disaster mitigation. The company has been contracted by the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund and United Nations for Women to create game campaigns. Beyond Profit talked to founder Anne Githuku-Shongwe. » Continue reading “Unreasonable Interviews: Afroes Transformational Games”

This story originally appeared in our February 24, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

A sector of affordable private schools is emerging in the developing world. But how can investors take part?

The affordable private school movement—made up of private schools where monthly student fees are less than US$12 (INR600)—is gaining momentum worldwide and providing low-income families the ability to choose where to send their children to school.

“Our experience has been that the low-income families are very concerned about the education of their children,” said Debasish Mitter, the Portfolio Director of education in India for the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. “These families are making the choice to send their kids to low-cost private schools.” » Continue reading “Private Education for the Poor”

This story originally appeared in our February 24, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

In India, one in three children cannot read fluently. Suzanne Singh from Pratham Books talks about the vision to give every child in India a book.

How did Pratham Books start?
SS: Pratham Books (PB) was set up in 2004 as part of the Read India movement. There are a number of NGOs working with children in India to improve basic literacy skills, but as more children become readers, there is need for good content. There were few publishing sources willing to supply affordable content and in multiple Indian languages. PB was established as a not-for-profit public charitable trust to reach children whom the market ordinarily would not and, therefore, to democratize the joy of reading. In the last 6 years, we have published over 215 titles in up to 11 languages and have spread the joy of reading to over 15 million children. » Continue reading “A Book for Every Child”