>> Leaders in learning
28 July, 2010
When we work with our education
system, trying to improve its quality,
we focus on the infrastructure, the teachers, the pedagogy, the
curriculum, the assessment methods and a host of other things. And each
of these must change and improve. However, we tend to focus
inadequately on the issue of leadership in schools. Any good leader
transforms things despite constraints. This is true for a school leader
too. It is also is a point of substantial leverage to change and
improve our schools: one we should invest more of our energy in. More
>> Musical Chairs for Bureaucrats
12 July, 2010
I counted 123 officers who have
occupied the top three posts in the
past eight to 10 years in these six states. Of these 120-odd officers
in these states, nearly 15% had tenure of less than six months at the
post. In almost all cases, transfers are sudden and an officer
transferred on a Tuesday will drop that ball to catch the new ball in
the new assignment on Wednesday morning. The show must go on. More
>> Another Eklavya Story
30 June, 2010
Eklavya
and its people did many things. They virtually ran the academic
part of the government school education system of two districts in
Madhya Pradesh for years. They devised curriculum and methods to
develop curriculum. They wrote books for children, and published
magazines for them. They trained teachers and principals. They did a
zillion other things for good education across the state. But above all
this, they lit fires of inspiration across the country. They did this
by demonstrating that good work was possible in the heartbreak of
average India, which is inspiration enough for many. More
>> Groundwater and Equality
16 June, 2010
How can we use groundwater such that it doesn’t vanish? Or, the larger
question, how does society move towards redefining its relationship
with ecology? Obviously, this will be a complex,
non-linear, systemic process. One element that could help is infusing
education with the notion of 'ecological sensitivity' as an axiomatic
good, much like 'human equality'. More
>> Scalability
and Replicability: Two very different challenges
4 March, 2010
I
would begin by
supporting the argument that successful experiments
and excellent innovations should not remain mere islands of excellence
but must get embedded in the larger system. During the past eight years
of our work at Azim Premji Foundation, we have explicitly stated this
goal upfront while initiating pilot programs in various states. More
>> The private and the public
in school education
6 February, 2010
The
poor quality of the state-run school education system has led to
demands that the State should withdraw from schooling, and that the
government should only fund private initiatives or let the private
sector take over schooling with public-private partnership initiatives.
However, proper regulation of private schools and quality-driven
reforms in public schools is a better alternative to PPP. More
>>
Journey of Change: A story from Uttarakhand
19 January, 2010
Changing an institution
is
like trying to move a mountain but it
would be a great disservice to the people trying to make it happen if
we succumb to the temptation that real change depends on messianic
leaders.
It might be useful instead to turn the spotlight on others, to see
how ordinary, unseen and unsung folks within the system are trying to
show us the way. More
>> India's
super economy tag is clearly a laugh
19
January, 2010
Ever since the Goldman Sachs report said that Brazil, Russia, India and
China will be among the largest and fastest growing economies by 2020,
we pull out this gem at every conceivable opportunity. More
>> Bringing
the fruits of education to the 'nowhere child'
2 December, 2009
The Lakshmis of India are the nowhere children. As their families
migrate from one alien city to another, as they meet one alien language
after another, their plight is lost in the anonymity of their
existence. Their below poverty line and ration cards are not valid
across state borders. The absence of schooling for their children
implies a continuation of the cycle of poverty. More
>> The
way forward...
22 November, 2009
The Right to Education
Act is
a piece of visionary legislation. But
certain critical issues need to be addressed for its proper
implementation. Now that the Bill has received Presidential Assent, we
should ensure
that the rules are indeed framed in a manner that addresses these
critical issues. More
>> We
need statesmanship for Public-Private education to work
4 November, 2009
It is no surprise that the
recent
announcement by the Minister of Human
Resource Development inviting private participation in the creation of
model schools in India has stirred up a hornet's nest. I am not
referring to the doubts expressed on the potential merit of this
initiative. I refer to the hackles that have been raised because of the
invitation for private participation. More
>> No such
thing as quick victories: Azim Premji
23 August,
2009
We must be prepared for the
long
haul. If we want genuine change and improvement, we have to be willing
to stay
with the issues for years. I don’t think change on social issues
happens
in the same timescales as changes in the corporate world. We must
resist the
urge to report quick victories. There are no quick victories in the
arena of
social change, real positive changes can be seen only decades later. More
>>
Spend
whatever required on
quality education: Azim Premji
4 July, 2009
My
views on allocation of funds for the education sector in the Budget are
in two parts. Firstly, India should spend whatever is required to
ensure quality education for every child without getting trapped in
percentages. Second, but equally important, that spending the money
effectively and with accountability, is absolutely critical at this
stage of our nation's growth. More 
>> Road
to Progress, six years later
14 April, 2009
More
than six years back, in an article for this newspaper titled, Password
to Progress, I had described the dreams and life of children in rural
government schools with Computer Aided Learning through the eyes of
three sparkling 12-year-old children. This is an update on these
children - 19 years of age now and on the threshold of more hopes,
dreams and aspirations. More
>>
Marching
towards the future
9 November, 2008
There
is only one right answer (a different answer even if it demonstrates a
lot of thinking on the child’s part is still unacceptable), a child who
asks too many questions is either not paying attention or is a rebel;
and hence bad. More
>> Great
Ideas,
Great Minds
6 October, 2008
The day the Government stops thinking its schools are for the poor, India will transform itself. More
>>
Brighter Tomorrow
23 August, 2008
By 2025,
India should be a knowledge superpower - a creator,
not just a receiver, of knowledge. An outline of what that vision
should look like. More
>> A leader for an educated India: Azim Premji
23 December,
2007
Our desire to accumulate material wealth; our simplistic understanding
of development; our inability to empathise with those who think,
believe and act differently from us - to me, all these only serve to
illustrate how our school system has failed us. More
>> ICT
has a huge role in attracting children: Azim Premji
31 October, 2007
My
perspective on the use of ICT for education and literacy is based on
our interaction with the parents and schools in over 1,300 villages in
2000, through the Azim Premji Foundation. More
>> Children
can learn
from
experience, says expert
6 January, 2007
The myth that child was an
"empty vessel"
needed to be exploded. The children of today were capable of learning
from experience, each could learn differently from the same experience,
added Dileep Ranjekar, CEO, Azim Premji Foundation. More
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