We remember the route from home to school because we walk it every day. We remember a recipe because we’ve cooked it ourselves. Learning works the same way; when students do something on their own, it stays with them longer. During a conversation with a teacher at a government school in Dimapur, I learned that…
By Abhishek Jain, Head, Public Policy at Mantra4Change. Introduction: Law and Policy as Tools for Social Change Societies have relied on law and policy not only to regulate behavior but have also served as levers of transformation shaping progress, creating opportunities, correcting imbalances, and steering collective action. Nathan Roscoe Pound3 conceptualised law as social engineering.…
By Abhishek Jain, Head, Public Policy at Mantra4Change. Understanding the concept of ‘school mapping’ School mapping is “a collection of methods and processes used to assess national and local educational demand and service delivery, alongside other important information on education outcomes”.3 One of its earliest uses was in 1963 by the Ministry of Education of…
By Abhishek Jain, Head, Public Policy at Mantra4Change. Though this piece we have conducted comparative mapping studies of the right to elementary education across the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (“ICESCR”), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (“CRC”), the Constitution of India…
When the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into force in 2009, it was celebrated as a landmark step in India’s journey towards equity and justice– guaranteeing free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14. In villages across Bihar, this has meant that most children now have a school building nearby and…
Nagaland, home to 17 major tribes and numerous sub-tribes, each with its distinct language, customs, and traditions, is also among the states consistently struggling with deep-rooted educational challenges and low learning outcomes. A large section of its population belongs to historically marginalised communities and Scheduled Tribes, making exclusion from quality education a generational hurdle. Beyond…
By Abhishek Jain, Head, Public Policy at Mantra4Change. Historical Background to the Right to Education The right to education refers to every person’s right to access quality education. It is a human right that is expressly recognised under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (‘UDHR’)1 as a right available to all wherein “education shall…
By Abhishek Jain, Head, Public Policy at Mantra4Change. Evolution of ‘education policy’ in India Post India’s independence in 1947, multiple commissions were set up over 2 decades to ideate and design independent and modern India’s educational system. Gradually the central government realised that there was a need to formulate a national level policy to promote…
By Abhishek Jain, Head, Public Policy at Mantra4Change. Finding ‘education policy’ in the larger umbrella of ‘policy’ In policy discourse, the most common discourse usually surrounds ‘public policy’ where the classification of policy has been on the basis of ownership i.e., whether it is owned and/or created by a public institution/ actor. In cases where…
FROM ABANDONED TO ACCLAIMED: THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF AGETHUA SCHOOL(BLOCK- SOHAWAL, DISTRICT- AYODHAYA) The problem of low attendance and weak parental engagement Schools, however good, fail to fulfil their purpose if students don’t come. In Ayodhya, the Government Primary School of Agethua (Block Sohawal, District Ayodhya) was a stark reminder of this reality. By May…