Education
Two Approaches to Improving Education
India has announced major investments in education. Given the scale of needs, the government rightly believes in focusing on well-tested methodologies, rather than on risky bets such as the OLPC.
Education Reform: A Problem with School Choice
For those that are interested in education, “school choice” is the new buzzword. And with school choice come “education vouchers.” For economists of all hues, these two together are the solution to all that ails our (Indian or American) schools. So loud is the rhetoric, in fact, that nobody really questions whether school choice and [...]
Income Inequality in Asia Growing
The ADB has just released a report titled “Key Indicators 2007: Inequality in Asia” (covered in IHT and BBC). The report concludes that the gini index, a measure of relative inequality had grown in all 15 countries studied, since the 1990s. More alarmingly, absolute inequality had grown even more. The bank identified the trend as [...]
Critical Views on the OLPC: Testing the Learning Hypothesis
Nicholas Negroponte likes to point out that the OLPC project is “about learning, not about laptops.” So the Harvard International Review and OLPC News take a close look at that value proposition. It is a point worth pondering, for the OLPC is drawing serious money, most famously with Libya committing USD 250 million for 1.2 [...]
Preparatory Reading On Privatizing Education
A lot of ink has been spilt lately on privatizing education, particularly by Atanu Dey (on IEB, and Pragati-Issue 2). I myself have tentatively supported vouchers in the past (Evaluating Vouchers). But the excessive liberal free-market promotion of the concept has me wondering if things are indeed as they seem. Before committing to a position, however, [...]
The Economist on Education Vouchers
The Economist is carrying a piece on the success of education vouchers. Sweeping aside criticism from the “education establishment”, The Economist states simply that “they work”.
But these arguments are now succumbing to sheer weight of evidence. Voucher schemes are running in several different countries without ill-effects for social cohesion; those that use a lottery to [...]
Private Education for the Poor Part 2: Evaluating Vouchers
In response to my last post, Private Education for the Poor, Alex pointed me to an article in The Hindu (The Farce of School Choice) specific to the Indian case that is worth discussing. The author Jayati Ghosh shows candidly the limitations of vouchers.
Private Education for the Poor
Last week, Christine Bowers noted on the FP Passport blog that “the world’s slums are full of private school kids.” On a similar note, the FT reported in January on how India’s poor are spurning state schools, indicating the complete inability of the state to provide a “traditionally core public service.”
Christine brings to the fore [...]
