Page 118 - EW November 2023

Special Report

Blueprint of a supplementary Why Harvard is the world’s India’s most preferred RTE shadow over India’s most
budget for primary education most admired university preschools admired schools
Against the backdrop of This first-ever detailed The inaugural EW India With the Right to Free &
Union Budget 2008-09 feature of an academic Preschool Rankings Compulsory Education
making paltry allocation institution abroad offered (EWIPR) survey rat- Act (RTE) 2009, becom-
for education, this path- valuable insights into Har- ing and ranking Top 20 ing operational on April 1,
breaking story presented vard University’s unique pre-primaries in six major 2010, this story reported
an innovative supplemen- combination of institu- cities was published. that the misgivings of
tary budget for primary tional qualities — academ- This was followed by the private school manage-
education and a resource ic innovation, pursuit of first EW Early Childhood ments about the Act have
mobilisation schema to scholastic excellence and Education Global Con- transformed into snow-
equip government schools creation of new knowl- ference staged in India. balling fear of creeping
suffering infrastructure edge, ability to attract the Together for the first time, erosion of academic and
deficiencies such as world’s brightest and best they impacted the critical administrative autonomy.
laboratories, libraries academics, students, and importance of early child- This extensive analysis of
and lavatories. This EW not least its unmatched hood care and education the RTE Act highlighted
budget calculated the institutional fund-raising upon the national con- how this well-intentioned
one-time cost of equipping capabilities. (EW June sciousness. Since then, legislation was being used
government schools with 2009) the annual EWIPR has to dilute the Supreme
adequate lab-lib-lav fa- evolved into the country’s Court judgement in the
cilities at Rs.47,725 crore. Supreme Court green light for largest preschools rank- landmark T.M.A. Pai
The EW schema suggested licence-permit-quota-inspector ings survey with league Foundation Case (2002).
ways and means to raise raj in school education tables ranking over 500 (EW October 2010)
the said sum by way of The majority judgement preschools in 16 cities
reducing indiscriminate of a three-judge bench countrywide, across 10
middle class subsidies; delivered on April 12 parameters of early child-
steady disinvestment of substantially upheld the hood education excellence.
government-held equity in constitutional validity (EW May 2010)
public sector enterprises, of the Right to Free and
among others. (EW April Compulsory Education Affordable schools gold rush
2008) (RTE) Act, 2009 and par- This lead feature recounts
ticularly its controversial how post-liberalisation
reserved quota for poor India’s new genre of
neighbourhood children in unstoppable education en-
private schools. Our cover trepreneurs have launched
story argued that the Su- an estimated 400,000
preme Court’s wafer-thin affordable budget private
majority verdict will open schools (BPS), to provide
the gates of private schools low-cost education to chil-
for the re-entry of dreaded dren of lower middle class
licence-permit-quota and households averse to fail-
inspector raj. (EW May ing government schools.
2012) (EW July 2011)

118 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2023