Avantika Thakur,

Teach for India, 2012-2014 4th International Language and Education Conference

Bangkok, 6-8 November, 2013

1. What is literacy?

2. Access to education

3. Quality of education

4. Quality of education–a case study

5. Towards better quality of education

A. What is Literacy?

B. Is this limited perception of literacy an effective

parameter for the Indian masses?

C. Literacy is not an end in itself. Shifting towards a

plural notion of literacy.

A. Whether or not there is a challenge in access to

education in India?

B. How has the government approached this challenge

and through what national policies?

C. The onus lies upon the state to ensure free and

compulsory education for children between the age of

six and fourteen.

A. Hindi versus English:

What is the significance of mother tongue while

teaching? Examples from the classroom.

How has the mother tongue suffered due to the lack of

qualified teachers?

Is there a link between the use of mother tongue and the

absence of qualified teachers?

B. Private versus Public schools:

Increasing preference for schools providing instruction in

English.

What is the perception of parents while choosing

schools?

90 percent of the staff in my school does not meet the

bare minimum educational qualification.

50 percent of them are still pursuing their graduation.

The average time period for which they teach is

6 – 10 months.

(A) Hindi versus English:

Based on a small test conducted for classes I and II,

aimed at assessing identification of alphabets and their

sounds in both Hindi and English.

Class English Hindi

LKG 34% 52%

UKG 25% 36%

II 41% 60%

III 90% 74%

(B) Private versus Public schools:

100 percent of my students’ parents prefer a private

school over a public school.

The quality of English, reading rather than

comprehension skills being taught is a primary

parameter.

(A) Teach For India:

Involvement of young leaders as teachers into the class

room.

Rigorous curriculum based on comprehension and

application of skills –

How are reading skills and comprehension skills different

in the curriculum? How do we map the growth across

different levels of comprehension?

(B) Involving all

stakeholders:

What are the provisions

within the Right to

Education Act.? Increasing

reliance on tuitions for

illiterate parents. How can

we involve them more?

(C) Implementation of laws:

The pressing need for implementation of national policies

like Right to Education to better the status of quality

education in India.