Tax savings & doing good

A new Blog SaveOurCity is Mumbai specific but most of the points that it presents are relevant universally. The latest post says “Whether it is for Tax benefits, or for building Karma, doing good actually makes sound practical sense.” Read it at Invest in Your Soul

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A note: Some time back I made a post, Education: Schools without students. Today’s Deccan Chronicle carries an article in ‘Learning Curve’ by Prof. JS Rajput a former Chairman of NCTE and former Director of NCERT. Among other things, it says:

40,000 schools (in India) have no buildings.

90,000 schools have no blackboards.

Shocking, isn’t it?

Ends.

Education: Schools without students

Yesterday’s Deccan Chronicle carried a brief coverage on the report ‘Elementary Education in India 2005-06’ by National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA). This survey on 11, 24,033 primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in 35 States and Union Territories of India has some incredible revelations. Samples:

- over 32,000 schools (2.9%) had zero enrollment; nearly half of these are primary schools in the public sector in rural areas

- about 70,000 schools (6.17%) have less than 25 students

- about 1,71,000 have between 25 and 50 children on the rolls

- the enrollment average for all the schools together was 150

This, of course, is an appalling situation when the country is on a literacy drive. While reading the report I was thinking that the fall in birth rate is the major factor for the lack of students particularly at the primary level.

But I was in for a shock when I came across the statement by a spokesman of NUEPA, which is quoted here: “The main reasons for zero enrollments is that these schools either don’t have a single teacher or they may be having para-teachers.” Schools without teachers won’t attract children. That is the basic truth. What is the purpose in calling them schools except perhaps to boost statistics of the number of education institutions?

Something is terribly wrong. Who is responsible?

Ends.

Also see:

Autobiography of a School

Education sector requirements - big business opportunity

Education sector requirements - big business opportunity

This morning I came across a copy of Education World – Special Directory, January, 2007. The publishers call it “path-breaking first-of-its-type special directory.” The stated objective is to make “a platform available for the country’s top institutional needs suppliers to inform prospective schools about their excellent products and services.”

This sector could very well be what the editorial calls the last frontier of the Indian economy. Look at the enormous volume – 900,000 primary and 133,000 secondary schools, 17,700 colleges, 344 universities, 950 management schools, over a hundred ‘international’ schools, 120 million students, 5 million teachers! And the outlay? Over 110,000 crores, (say nearly US$ 27.5 billions?) This amount might double in the next three years. (All figures except the US$ conversion are from Education World.)

What are the needs of the educational sector? Anything from pencils to school buses. Education World lists them: desks, chairs, blackboards, audio-visual learning systems, personal computers, air conditioning, laundry, kitchen and water cooling [and purification] systems; classroom equipment such as text and notebooks, black and white boards, pens, pencils etc and consumables such as convenience foods, toiletries and snack-foods, beverages and fruits and vegetables. Items like uniforms, school bags umbrellas are not mentioned, but they too are part of the requirement.

It would appear that a major portion of this market is being catered to by local or regional small enterprises. According to Education World, “Invariably the quality of supplies is uneven and variable.”

What I feel is that the field is so vast that it can accommodate all kinds and sizes of players – from household enterprises to big companies. With India’s focus on literacy and the huge volume, this is a segment that is bound to grow rapidly. The present trend is for parents to provide better education to their children than what they had. And the schools, particularly in the private sector, are constantly improving in quality.

Ends.

Also see:

Back to The School

Autobiography of a School