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- Amy Seefeldt, dean of academics at the Woodstock School, Mussoorie

The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (aka RTE Act) became law on April 1, 2010. But two years on, there's confusion confounded relating to the implementation of the Act, in particular about giving effect to s.12 (1) (c) which makes it mandatory for all private schools to reserve a 25 percent quota in class I or preschool, if any, for children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood and provide free and compulsory education till its completion”. The confusion persists despite the Supreme Court upholding this provision on April 12, 2012 in Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan vs. Union of India (Writ Petition (c) No. 95 of 2010), with questions being raised about who classifies disadvantaged children in the neighbourhood and the quantum of tuition fees reimbursed to private schools by the state government under s.12 (2).

Creative thinking involves both hemispheres of the brain, sometimes alternating, at other times, in synchrony. Ideas hop, skip, and dance a tango often culminating in creative resonance, where great insights explode into consciousness.

Consultative needs analysis surveys conducted by the British Council over the past three years for in-service teacher education programmes in several states across India, illustrate that government school English language teachers are on the whole, aware of the key principles of English language teaching highlighted in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005.

Special education for gifted children is an idea which is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. In our neighbourhood — Singapore, China, Korea and Thailand — dedicated schools for gifted children are mushrooming. Worried about well-trained youth from such special schools taking the best jobs from Americans, some states within the US have also legislated in favour of special education for gifted children. Even as egalitarian a country as Denmark has acknowledged the need to pamper gifted children.

The IT (information technology) and internet communications revolutions of the past two decades have transformed teaching-learning norms and systems around the world — particularly in post-industrial societies of the first world — beyond recognition. With the introduction of ICT (instructional communication technologies) into classrooms of progressive schools worldwide, it is now possible to supplement and enrich chalk-n-talk and textbook teaching with live multi-media presentations on smart boards, to facilitate deeper understanding of curricular concepts and subjects. Moreover, the internet revolution has created a vast universal digital library accessible to all, enabling students to reach the worlds best teachers with the click of a mouse.

For all students, particularly those on the threshold of completing their secondary and higher secondary board examinations, writing an engaging English language essay is a vital pre-condition of examination success. The ability to write good essays is also very important for students who wish to do well at university. Therefore its important for teachers preparing students to do well in milestone examinations — and indeed in life beyond academic institutions — to help them develop their essay writing skills.

Chalk-n-talk and one-way conversation is still the dominant pedagogy in India's classrooms. Why is it that none of the other faculties are brought in to play in the classroom? How many of the senses are aroused to aid students understanding of the lesson being presented? Invariably some set pedagogy is imposed on students. Can teachers not guide learners to ‘discover' the pedagogy most agreeable to them to make learning a truly exhilarating process?

Today's youth are living in the most exciting time of human history, within increasingly diverse communities and cultures, newer and fast-evolving technologies and ever expanding horizons. Against this backdrop, the challenge confronting school managements is to ensure that their students evolve into sensitive, responsible citizens of the new world. Therefore, it is vital for schools to establish a robust team of counsellors and teachers who can empathise with the young, and successfully provide guidance and support to students regardless of age and grades.

Career counseling is gaining increasing importance in India today, as families and education institutions search for methods and systems to help young people make career choices suited to their aptitude and potential.

One of the great questions which confronts governments, school managements and educationists around the world, is how can schools transform themselves to unlock the potential of every student and teacher? How can government efforts to improve learning outcomes be combined with their obligation to put citizenship on the curriculum, promote healthy schools and place positive behaviour high on their agendas?

Within India's 5 million-strong school teachers community, there is an urgent need to acknowledge Mother Nature as the greatest teacher and to learn from her example. She speaks not a word in any human language, and yet everything in nature inspires humanity to seek and learn, engendering awe, mystery, and an enthusiasm for uncovering the truth behind her workings, her creations, her cycles and her balance. As such, she is the primal teacher archetype of inspirational teaching and the root of all scientific enquiry. Hence, science has been defined as "mankind's attempt to understand nature”. The great scientist Albert Einstein expressed it more dramatically stating, "We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us". 

The recent attacks on Indian students in Australia have evoked shock and dismay within all sections of the populace in India, and the academic community in particular. The emergence of this phenomenon calls for serious debate to analyse its causes and effects and evolve policies and strategies for creating safe and secure environments for Indian students driven to study abroad by a debilitating domestic higher education system.

Is English India's first or second language? For a minority of Indians who have had the good fortune to be educated in the countrys 11,000-plus elite CISCE and CBSE English medium schools it is, clearly, the first language. For the rest of the population, including children who attend state board affiliated vernacular and so-called English medium schools, the status of English is ambiguous. I say ‘so-called, because most of these schools are only nominally English medium institutions. Their lingua franca is the local language, or the mother tongue.