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Education: A Learning Curve; What's behind India's success in the global knowledge economy? One key is a boom in private schools for all.(Cover Story)
Byline: Gurcharan Das (Gurcharan Das is the author of "India Unbound" and a former CEO of Procter & Gamble India.)
I recently got a call from a board member of one of the world's largest consulting companies, who invited me to speak to them about why so many Indians were succeeding in the global-knowledge economy. He mentioned innovations emerging from GE and Microsoft's R&D centers in Bangalore; advanced avionics installed by India's Air Force on Russian fighter aircraft, and sophisticated research on global capital markets outsourced by Wall Street to India. Finally, he rattled off the names of a dozen Indian leaders of multinational corporations.
I was skeptical. "Perhaps it's our large population?" I suggested. He countered with half a dozen large countries that are invisible in the knowledge economy. "Or maybe it's simply knowing English?" He asked if there was something in India's education system that might help explain its recent economic success.
The best in India do get a decent education. Aside from the famed Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management, there are about 20 other centers of excellence in science, engineering, medicine and even the liberal arts. Both students and parents are intensely dedicated. Night after night, middle-class Indian parents insist on overseeing their kids' homework--it's a rare mother who accepts a dinner invitation during exam season. By the age of 15, the young are packed off to coaching classes to prepare them for entry into the competitive colleges.
What's changing is the access to quality education below these top levels. Government-run schools are a mess: a national study by Harvard University faculty found that on any given day, one out of four teachers in state-run primary schools is absent, and of those present half are not teaching. But private schools--which can range from expensive boarding schools ...
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- Newspaper article from: The Christian Science Monitor February 13, 2006 700+ words
...Private education in India has always been...constitutional amendment, private schools, colleges, and...reserved seats in private schools. For the United...which is led by India's ruling Congress...reserving seats in private schools is only a first...
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- Magazine article from: One Country Fazli, Arash Vafa October 1, 2008 700+ words
...of the elite, private schools in India have undergone...thousands" of private schools have been started up across India in recent decades...terminology, many private schools are called "public" schools in India.) "Our whole...
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- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire September 14, 2005 700+ words
(From India Business Insight) The draft...proposes that the Government of India will pay private schools the cost of educating children...then no subsidy will be paid. Private schools all over India will have to admit 25 percent...
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(From India Business Insight) The number of private schools offering education at primary and elementary levels in rural India is on the rise. This is attributed...this age group are enrolled in private schools. The growing preference for...
- Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation to Finance Private Schools in Kenya and India.
- Press release article from: Business Wire September 24, 2008 700+ words
...finance emerging affordable private schools in Kenya and India. In partnership with NewGlobe...important role that low-cost private schools play in educating poor children...franchise of low-cost private schools with the goal of overcoming...
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- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire April 28, 2004 700+ words
(From India Business Insight) The Supreme Court of India has passed a judgment that sets stringent guidelines to prevent commercialisation of education by private schools in Delhi. The Supreme Court has directed authorities...
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- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire April 5, 2004 700+ words
...Gomathi, Director of Educare Trust of India, was 'Private Schools For The Poor'. Lessons For The UK From India and Africa'. Present at the seminar...Gomathi said the contribution of the private schools in India had been beneficial and helped to...
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- Magazine article from: Newsweek International Overdorf, Jason August 20, 2007 700+ words
...walking in Hyderabad, India, and was startled to find private schools on virtually every...scale study in India, China and Africa...teacher, but in private schools, in most cases...and coordinator of India's School Choice...
- Private schools for the poor: education where no one expects it.(feature)
- Magazine article from: Education Next Tooley, James September 22, 2005 700+ words
...industry of private schools for themselves...schools in India, China...Hyderabad, India, I stumbled on a crowd of private schools in slums behind...looking for: private schools for the poor...Hyderabad, India, a typical...
- Private schools more in demand in Old City.
- News wire article from: Asia Africa Intelligence Wire March 12, 2004 700+ words
...fact is certain, private schools are more in demand...been visiting India for the past four...discovered that many private schools were flourishing...holds good for private schools," he said...and Kenya. In India, a research team...
Source: HighBeam Research, Education: A Learning Curve; What's behind India's success in the...