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Based on fieldwork in Tinsukia district of Assam, this article examines the interplay of Ekal, ideology and education among the Adivasis in the tea gardens. The Ekal schools are one-teacher, informal schools operated by the Sangh Parivar in the underprivileged regions of India and Nepal. Considering the backward status of Adivasis in these tea gardens, the official narrative of the school is to reduce the literacy gap among the community, impart "sanskar" and empower them with entrepreneurial skills. I argue that Ekal's organisational structure and funding are corporate, and its conception of 'empowerment' is neoliberal. This works as an effective model for Hindutva as the Sangh seeks to bring popularly Christian-dominated tea gardens into its Hindutva fold. This is done by practices both inside and outside the school.

For over two decades now, the application of Citizen Science to Education has been evolving, and fundamental topics, such as the drivers of motivation to participate in Citizen Science projects, are still under discussion. Some recent developments, though, like the use of Artificial Intelligence to support data collection and validation, seem to point to a clear-cut divergence from the mainstream research path. The objective of this paper is to summarise the development trajectory of research on Citizen Science in Education so far, and then shed light on its future development, to help researchers direct their efforts towards the most promising open questions in this field. We achieved these objectives by using the lens of the Affordance-Actualisation theory and the Main Path Analysis method.

Educational action research in development projects applies participative methods to include people with diverse backgrounds, experiencing learning collaboratively. In this article, I explore the learning activities, and their outcomes, unfolding in those settings. Based on project documents, 34 interviews with project staff and smallholder farmers, and participant observations for three months in Nepal, I analyse the action research and development project 'Strengthening Adaptive Farming in Bangladesh, India and Nepal' (SAF-BIN), and show how inclusive activities allow for critical reflection, individual experience, and dialogue. I find dialectics in this process of adjustment, such as resistant social and cultural arrangements that are activated. The inclusion of specific social groups, for example, goes along with exclusionary dynamics. This case illustrates that inclusion and action research can be conceptualised at least threefold: from a dialectical, institutional, and learning perspective. I conclude that action research in development provides a fruitful basis for learning, allows for legitimacy, and temporarily leads to social change at a micro-level, for better or worse.

Children living in poverty face numerous challenges that negatively affect their wellbeing and thus their ability to learn. The consequences of poverty that interfere with students' learning include inattentiveness, demotivation, and feelings of powerlessness, shame, and anger. To reach these children, with the goal of helping them become healthy, effective learners, Labhya partners with governments to co-create scalable and localized wellbeing and social-emotional learning programs for children across public education systems. They provide end-to-end support through cocreation of curriculum, teacher capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, and support in effective implementation. Richa Gupta, CEO & Co-founder at Labhya, provides answers to questions about this organization's high-impact initiative. Labhya is an education nonprofit that has pioneered the wellbeing movement in India. In partnership with Indian governments, Labhya integrates wellbeing programs into the school day. Social-emotional learning is an internationally acknowledged best education practice, which has proven to be one of the most powerful tools for social change and poverty reduction. It plays a critical role in education, enabling children to develop the skills and abilities they need to succeed in school and beyond. Research demonstrates that the integration of social-emotional learning in schools leads to better education and employment outcomes and improves children's mental wellbeing in the long run. The four key pedagogies -- mindfulness, self-reflection, stories, and reinforcing activities -- are carefully integrated into the curriculum to ensure holistic development and wellbeing among students. According to the author, the programs are localized and trauma-informed, delivered in local languages, and adapted to suit the diverse settings of their children.

This work analyzes the current situation of engineering education in India, especially technical universities characterized by low-quality infrastructure, inflexible curricula, and poor teaching resources including faculty, usually resulting in low student learning and very low graduate placement rates, and identifies the root causes of these problems, summarizes the methodologies adapted by previous researchers in the lean area, and applies the lean manufacturing philosophy to engineering education. This paper applies a value stream map to analyze the current state of engineering education. This technique identifies eight wastes and is given in form of a current state diagram. A future state diagram is presented that recommends solutions to eliminate these wastes. These recommendations make learning processes responsive to needs and provide long-lasting value to students. Overall, it is beneficial in developing a policy for engineering education.

This article offers a global overview of the burgeoning field of micro-credentials and their relationship to lifelong learning, employability and new models of digital education. Although there is no globally accepted definition of micro-credentials, the term indicates smaller units of study, which are usually shorter than traditional forms of accredited learning and courses leading to conventional qualifications such as degrees. The paper aims to provide educators with a helicopter view of the rapidly evolving global micro-credential landscape, with particular relevance to higher education leaders, industry stakeholders and government policy-makers. It addresses five questions: (i) What are micro-credentials? (ii) Why micro-credentials? (iii) Who are the key stakeholders? (iv) What is happening globally? and (v) What are some of the key takeaways? Drawing on a European-wide perspective and recent developments in The Republic of Ireland, the paper concludes that micro-credentials are likely to become a more established and mature feature of the 21st-century credential ecology over the next five years. While the global micro-credential landscape is currently disconnected across national boundaries, more clarity and coherence will emerge as governments around the world increasingly align new credentialing developments with existing national qualification frameworks. The micro-credentialing movement also provides opportunities for governments and higher education institutions in partnership with industry to harness new digital learning models beyond the pandemic.

This article addresses policy transfer in international development activities in vocational education and training. Ownership has been identified and established as a key factor for sustainability of transfer activities in different fields of development cooperation. While the concept has been targeted from a macro-level perspective of government-to-government transfer for a long time, meso- and micro-level perspectives of multi-stakeholder involvement are increasingly emerging. Thus, the focus is on the function of ownership in terms of the role of local stakeholder commitment for sustainable transfer at the level of vocational training institutions in India. Using the example of the transfer of an approach for quality measurement, factors, potentials and challenges for ownership development are explored. Findings are based on the first evaluation cycle of a quality measurement framework developed with specific regard to Polytechnic Colleges and Industrial Training Institutes. Results of the evaluation were analysed considering the model intentions and theoretically based assumptions taken in the research process. Ownership at the meso-level can be established by high degrees of acceptability of measures, participation of stakeholders at the institutional level and internal and external moderation processes in implementation. This paper argues that increased participation and decision-making authority will contribute to measures in line with stakeholders' needs and enable Polytechnic Colleges and ITIs to engage in institutional development more effectively when considering stakeholders' views. This is the case, particularly when focusing on quality assurance and development at the organisational level.

Good governance enhances efficiency both in public and private sector organizations. Productivity and good governance are closely associated to aid value for investment both in terms of time and money, and end-user satisfaction. Productivity Enhancement and quality improvement of higher education depend on governance-trends and productive leadership of the institution. Discipline, and quality vision set, and policy practiced by the leadership in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) propagate down the timeline-hierarchy. This article addresses the pivotal factors and parameters worldwide studied, accepted and opined in various case studies and policy making schemes for good governance of Higher Education Indian Institution (HEIIs). This is necessary to enable their leadership enhancing the organizational productivity for 21st-century Indian subcontinent. The 3rd largest youth in the world studying in HEIIs would contribute the most to the growth of 21st-century Indian economy and living standards. This shall be possible when educational productivity of HEII-leadership is innovatively transformed into transformative innovation. In this paper effects, consequences, impacts, opportunities, problems and remedies regarding pivotal issues and challenges of and for existing HEIIs for becoming world-class education system are systematically reviewed. Recommendations based upon studies and findings are made for 21st-century HEII-leadership, and practical model is presented to measure the productivity.

This article highlights the vibrant role of the Muslim Anjumans in activating the educational revival in the colonial Punjab. The latter half of the 19th century, particularly the decade 1880- 1890, witnessed the birth of several Muslim Anjumans (societies) in the Punjab province. These were, in fact, a product of growing political consciousness and desire for collective efforts for the community-betterment. The Muslims, in other provinces, were lagging behind in education and other avenues of material prosperity. Their social conditions were also far from being satisfactory. Religion too had become a collection of rites and superstitions and an obstacle for their educational progress. During the same period, they also faced a grievous threat from the increasing proselytizing activities of the Christian Missionary societies and the growing economic prosperity of the Hindus who by virtue of their advancement in education, commerce and public services, were emerging as a dominant community in the province. The Anjumans rescued the Muslim youth from the verge of what then seemed imminent doom of ignorance by establishing schools and madrassas in almost all cities of the Punjab. The focus of these Anjumans was on both secular and religious education, which was advocated equally for both genders. Their trained scholars confronted the anti-Islamic activities of the Christian missionaries. The educational development of the Muslims in the Colonial Punjab owes much to these Anjumans.

This article focuses on the dynamic relationships between the growing importance of lifelong learning (LLL) and consequent devaluation of adult education in national level educational policies, plans and programmes in India. It argues that by adapting the new paradigm of LLL, which is largely driven by marketcentric neoliberal principles, Indian adult education has lost its core and traditional learning ecology as there is a gradual submission to the pursuit of global economic competitiveness. It identifies three main reasons for the submission: (1) the metamorphosis from welfare to market principles in reforming education; (2) blind acceptance and misunderstanding of LLL as an educational and not a political discourse; (3) fragmented reforms in revamping adult education in India in the last decades.

The North East Region of the country is unique due to its socio-cultural features, geopolitical factors, and abundant untapped natural resources. However, despite being endowed with such uniqueness, the region remains underdeveloped, backward and alienated from the mainland. Since its inception, Indira Gandhi National Open University registered its presence in the North East Region with the establishment of a Regional Centre in Shillong (Meghalaya) in 1988, Ever since, IGNOU strives to foster educational development of the region through its academic offerings. As on date nine Regional Centres have been established in the eight states of the NER, catering to the educational needs and aspirations of the deprived segments of the population. Learner support is provided through a network of around 200 active learner support centers under the nine Regional Centres. The paper presents an overview of IGNOU's interventions to extend its outreach in the NER, beginning with the North-East Project to the current activities through the dedicated unit, Educational Development of North East Region Unit, under Regional Services Division of the University. The paper also discusses the policy measures adopted and implemented to further strengthen the efforts for expansion of higher education as per mandate of IGNOU and Government of India. The prospects, possibilities through the use ICTs and digitalization initiatives for enhancing outreach in the region are also discussed.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of service marketing mix (SMM) as service input and service output in terms of students' performance, satisfaction and referral act in context to higher and technical education (HTE) through the application of structural equation modeling. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research, conducted through a self-administered survey composed by a closed-ended structured questionnaire, was incorporated for the students who were enrolled in the technical educational institutions situated in the Khandesh region of India. Findings: The findings of this study revealed that traditional SMM is statistically linked with the performance of students in terms of skill and knowledge enhancement, satisfaction and referral act of students, which are perceptible new emerging SMM; performance, pleasure and pointing out in terms of service output. Practical implications: Integrating SMM as service input and service output are productive for HTE in enhancing growth (quantitatively) by the inclusivity of diversified students and development (qualitatively) by enhancing their performance for global standing, making them satisfied and motivating them for recommending their institution to others. This integration can be utilized as a yardstick by the institutions for staying ahead in students' market with a distinctive competitive advantage. Social implications: Growth and development of HTE will raise a society's quality of life and thereby increase a country's socio-economic status. Originality/value: The study has exhibited SMM as input and output of a service system that is useful for the growth and development of HTE. The measurement tool presented is effective in (re)framing policies on SMM as service input based on desired service output.

With the limitations imposed by COVID-19 pandemic, educational regulatory bodies in India recommended a number of online education portals to support higher education. Present work undertakes a detailed study on these recommended platforms and presents a comparative analysis based on the relevant features. 'SWAYAM' a widely popular and emphasized Indian MOOC platform has been compared with the other popular e-learning platforms of the international market. The study revealed that e-learning platforms vary in terms of offerings such as: method of dissemination of knowledge, target audiences, fee, target audiences, etc. Also, in terms of user base, courses offered, and certificates offered, 'SWAYAM' has to work a lot to compete with the international peers. Finally, SWOC analysis was carried out to present the threats and opportunities associated with recommended e-learning portals. The work will be profoundly helpful to frame the comprehensive education policies to meet the stakeholder's expectations and lead to the innovation of educational development.

This paper is a reflective account of a travel that shifted the site of initial elementary teacher education from a metropolitan milieu of New Delhi; to the contrasting locale of a remote mountain region in the central Himalayas. This shift of site aimed to re-locate the concerns of quality schooling, diversity and ecological living to this new context. The possibilities of an emancipatory education for the marginalised children of these remote mountain regions may not emerge from mainstream schooling but are derived from an alternative educational imagination. This alternative educational trajectory is rooted in the children's locale specific bio-physical reality, social ecology and recovery of traditional local knowledge systems. The field experiences at a new site are among the critical dimensions of teacher education for diversity. In comparison to the learning that takes place at an urban location of the initial teacher education programme the insights gained from experiences at this educationally 'non-developed' locale at the margins are central to teacher education for diversity. The visit deepened the understanding that a distinct locale specific alternative vision of educational development is not the same as mainstream notions of school education, economic growth and ecological living.

Elementary education is vital for children as well as for society as a whole. It serves three major purposes in an individual's life. First, it provides a foundation for learning the core subjects. Second, it provides an understanding of the individual's environment and society. Third, it helps to foster an interest in duty and responsibility within the individual's own community through various activities. Elementary education is very important whether one is living in a developing country or a developed world. So it is the duty of every guardian and government to provide quality elementary education to every child. Blended learning is an innovative idea having immense potentiality to provide quality education to children. Unfortunately, the vast majority of blended learning research has focused on educational settings in North America and more attention is needed for its successful implementation in the developing countries like India where elementary education is suffering from so many problems in spite of the best efforts taken at various levels by the government. Using India as a setting, the objective of this essay is to define blended learning, outline the challenges in the Indian educational system, and suggest changes that need to be made for blended learning to gain the traction it needs to become a widely used and highly effective method of instruction in India.

To meet the changing demands of the students and many other stakeholders of education in this twenty-first century, the education systems of different nations of the world are in the process of continuous paradigm shifts in their curriculum, methods of instruction, management, evaluation process and other related components. Integrated programmes in education may be considered as a kind of crop of these paradigm shifts. The integrated programmes have many advantages over traditional fragmented programmes in education. Integrated programmes allow the learners to pursue a holistic learning without the restrictions imposed by subject and/or level of learning boundaries. For achieving well-rounded and integrated development among the learners, integrated programmes play a significant role in the field of education. Focusing on these issues, in this present article, discussions are made mostly on conceptual analysis of integrated programmes, the world scenario of development and current status of integrated programmes and Indian scenario of development and current status of integrated programmes. The article is concluded by reflecting on the points that integrated programmes are the latest fashion in programme designing and implementation in education, and these programmes have better implication for achieving multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary skills. Also, in the concluding section of the article, reflections are made regarding measures to be taken at the government level and responsibilities to be shouldered at the level of educational institutions offering integrated programmes to popularize integrated programmes among the stakeholders of education and for establishing integrated programmes as vibrant and leading programmes in education.

The world has realized that the economic success of the states is directly determined by their education systems. Education is a Nation's Strength. A developed nation is inevitably an educated nation. Indian higher education system is the third largest in the world, next to the United States and China. Since independence, India as a developing nation is contentiously progressing in the education field. Although there have been lot of challenges to higher education system of India but equally have lot of opportunities to overcome these challenges and to make higher education system much better. It needs greater transparency and accountability, the role of colleges and universities in the new millennium, and emerging scientific research on how people learn is of utmost important. India need well skilled and highly educated people who can drive our economy forward. India provides highly skilled people to other countries therefore; it is very easy for India to transfer our country from a developing nation to a developed nation. The current study aims to highlight the challenges and to point out the opportunities in higher education system in India.

The Indian higher education system is the largest in the world in terms of the number of institutions and second largest in enrollments. About 33.3 million students are currently enrolled in higher education institutions, but the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is still very low at 23.6%. There are about 757 universities and 38,056 colleges in India. This mammoth network of higher education institutions include a large private sector that has emerged and experienced very rapid growth during last two decades. Despite this growth, Indian higher education is facing several challenges with regard to equity, efficiency and quality. It is still not inclusive, globally competitive, and innovative. The present paper examines the Indian higher education growth deception in this context and vindicate the imperative need for effective intervention policies.

This article examines the effect of location on the development of new universities. The study was conducted in seven new higher education institutions (HEIs) established in India during 1996-2008. I collected the data by conducting semi-structured interviews with 73 faculty members in the HEIs and from official documents, media reports and opinion pieces about the HEIs. Using the conceptual framework of path dependency, I investigated the tensions and challenges faced by the HEIs in their initial years. I find the placement of the HEIs in their respective locations to be a contingent event that can make the development of HEIs path dependent. I find that the initial conditions and decisions of the HEIs were influenced by the location and led to reactive sequential events in their initial years with effects that were hard to shake off, making their development path dependent. I show that having to develop their infrastructure and constrained by resources, the HEIs started their academic programmes first, followed by their research activities, and outreach and regional engagement.

This paper is an attempt to examine the relationship between higher education and economic growth by taking a country case of the Republic of Korea and comparing this with the Republic of India to show how political educational decisions impact economic growth. Even though both countries began as relatively underdeveloped economies at the time of independence in the 1940s, this literature study shows that these two countries took different trajectories in organizing their higher education systems. Korea's strategic and sustained investment in education (along with the private sector) has eventually helped the economy to soar. India's economy, on the other hand, is still held back from strategizing and channeling its resources for the development of higher education in general. India appears to have been fallen prey to a competency trap of the general presumption among many policy makers that secondary and higher education may not be as necessary for economic growth. As a result, the economy will continue to suffer until the political commitment shifts toward investing in higher education and working with the private sector of vast potentials.

We may examine the relationship between higher education and economic growth by comparing the Republic of Korea to the Republic of India. How do political educational decisions impact economic growth? Although both countries began with relatively underdeveloped economies at the time of their independence in the late 1940s, these two countries took different trajectories in organizing their higher education systems. Korea's strategic and sustained investment in education (along with the private sector) has helped the economy to soar. India, on the other hand, has neither strategized nor channeled its resources for the development of higher education. India appears to have been fallen prey to a competency trap, the presumption of many policymakers that secondary and higher education may not be central to economic growth. Her economy will continue to suffer until political commitment shifts and the country massively invests in higher education, thus unlocking vast potential.

India and China are two fast growing economies of the world and need large skill based manpower to sustain the economic growth. The existing formal higher educational system in these countries will not be able to meet the demand of the economy. The paper will try (i) to compare the development of economy and distance education in India and China with reference to policy perspectives; (ii) to examine the course design, development and delivery of distance education programmes in national open universities of India and China i.e. Indira Gandhi National Open University of India (IGNOU) and Open University of China (OUC); (iii) to analyze the trend of enrollment in IGNOU and OUC; and (iv) to compare the recognition /accreditation and quality control process of distance learning in both these countries. The paper highlights the policy strategies of two countries towards quality control mechanism as par with conventional system.

Though conflict, violence and social upheaval have been the greatest threats to mankind since the dawn of civilisation, its place in the academic field is relatively a new one. Poorest communities, children and educational sector are among those severely affected by it, especially in the developing countries. This study found that despite the fact that the State of Manipur in India has been facing different forms of conflicts; its impact on educational growth was not reflected much. It might be due to adopting different mechanisms of protecting educational environment. Some of the visible mechanisms that have been adopted by the State are sending children out of the State for their studies, spending more proportion of per capita consumption expenditure on education, and society's effort in keeping educational institutions away from different forms of conflicts.

The paper examines trends and issues in digital education programmes globally, drawing examples of developmental growth of Library Information Science (LIS), schools and digital education courses in North America, Britain, and Southern Asia, the slow growth of LIS schools and digital education in Nigeria and some countries in Africa and India. The literature so far visited dictated problems of inadequacy in digital education globally to dearth of faculty, training facilities, no collaboration among LIS schools in developing countries, encouraging collaborations in developed countries and not many students attracted to the course. Recommended solutions are suggested for attracting students into the programme and what to do to make it competitive like other programmes in the universities.

This study aims to observe the increased effectiveness of Higher Educational Institutions in India and its competitiveness. It proposes to develop the interest in enhancing the quality in Educational Institutions. It is monitored and evaluated through rapid growth of information technology, which makes sophisticated data collection possible. This study aims to create an awareness or self competitiveness among educational institutions to implement the quality of standard education and needs of the society and to recognize the scale of height, which shows where we are in these globalised standards.

Higher education system in India facing daunting challenges from within--forces from within the institutions, and from outside within the country, and from global forces. The system needs major and somewhat pressing, if not emergency reforms. At the same time, we are confronted with a variety of dilemmas in reforming higher education. It is argued here that some dilemmas are redundant, a few valid and genuine, and some need a little bold re-thinking--drawing from traditional wisdom and contemporary world experience. The paper deliberates on these different types of education dilemmas.

India desperately needs good governance in colleges and universities so as to create a culture of innovation, and entrepreneurship so as to become and remain competitive in world market. Poor governance and poor leadership is observed to be the root cause for all ills in university education. Indian students and professors are brilliant but unfortunately they have to work today under poor governance. Governance and leadership both at central and state levels are mainly responsible for poor educational standards. It seems like all the governing bodies, namely MHRD, UGC, AICTE, Board of Governors (BOG), executive councils, are not well familiar with the global winds of change. Truly, they are behind time. No wonder, Indian universities in spite of brilliant students and brilliant professors do not stand high in the world list. Thousands of students every year are flying abroad for education. To rectify the ills and to ensure educational quality; India urgently needs to go first on priority for modernising governance systems, make them effective, imaginative and competent. They ought to engage fruitfully with the Vice Chancellors, Principals and especially listen to the voice of students. In globalization, education can best be shaped by adopting role models of only world best universities. National budget allocation to university education which creates vital human capital, which is a driving force for national development, is unfortunately observed to be dwindling. This is a major problem, and a challenge too. So as to build colleges and universities innovative, creative, and qualitative by world standards some suggestions are made in this paper. Strong leadership, distributed leadership and autonomy at the institution level is recommended. What kind of impact a professor makes on society and the profession of his/her specialization is of vital importance to take the nation to greater heights. Are professors competent by global standards? How can they be? Do the systems enable them to be so? Importance of education is outlined by Nobel Laurate Dr. Amartya Sen needs to be borne in mind. He says there is no better way for economic development of India than to educate people well. If India does not provide better education, and instead even if it implements reforms in all other sectors like food, water, electricity, etc. that is not going to matter much.

In this paper, we identify factors which improve the quality of technical education using the data from World Bank's Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) in India. We evaluate the success of TEQIP in improving the quality of technical education in the country. Our findings show significant impact of this intervention on the quality of the technical education. The design, strategy, and implementation of TEQIP have crucial lessons for developing countries who want to build their technical education sector for rapid economic growth.

This article provides an overview of the ethical tensions of preparing for ethnographic research with children in a rural district in Karnataka, India. Such children are at the receiving end of policy and international organisation interest, which alternately frames them as both victims of poverty and conflict and as agents of potential change in their communities. Additionally, researchers must often negotiate particularly muddy ethical waters when working with Majority World children from marginalised backgrounds. A critical exploration of the various complexities is provided in order to develop a working ethical framework. Of key importance is the need for reflexivity when journeying from western higher institutions (the 'ivory tower') to the 'field', a space and time carrying different weight and implications for the participants than the researcher. This article argues for the need to critically examine and weave in the multiple discourses of power that permeate children's lives and engage with children's responses to these discourses. While rural Karnataka provides a case study for the ethical tensions of ethnographic research with Majority World children from marginalised backgrounds, the principles espoused here are broadly applicable to children in a variety of contexts.

This paper makes an attempt to provide a review on challenges, outcomes and present situation in vocational education and training (VET) programs in some Asian countries. Various country-specific studies indicate that the VET system has not responded very well in the South Asian region. The VET stream is quite small. Despite there being a growing demand for a skilled labor force, the labor market outcomes of those who have followed the vocational path are not good. However, the governments are giving full attention to making the VET system robust in these countries. Various new policy initiatives have been undertaken by the governments in recent years.

As the world is invaded by technological inventions and wonders, life becoming more fast and crazy, yet there can be no doubt that the critical factor for the development of a nation or a state is its human resource. The productivity of a nation is influenced by the number of its skilled population. When we look into the problem of underdevelopment from human resource perspective we are bound to take a look at the educational scenario. In India, the higher education scenario has been very sickly, due to the pro profit policies, lack of infrastructure, entry of private players, etc. The growth of distance education phenomenon in India has no doubt brought a ray of hope. The present paper aims to look into the role of distance education in Assam and the potential it carries in building a huge wealth of human resources. (Contains 3 tables.)

The low literacy rate of Scheduled Tribes is a serious threat to Indian education. It is significant even to Kerala, the state with highest literacy rate. The intensity of the problem is reflected by the SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) examination results of March 2010 where the Palakkad district has scored the less pass percentage of 83.04. The increase in the number of failures and drop outs in the schools of Attapady is pointed out as major cause of the fall by educators and proponents of the State. A Pilot study is carried out in Attapady, the most educationally backward tribal pocket of Palakkad District. The lack of proficiency in English language is identified as a major obstacle to the education of Schedule Tribe learners. The inappropriate syllabus and teaching method of English develops a negative attitude in learners towards learning. The fear of learning a foreign language is one of the factors to stop their education because English language is a criteria rather than an option at higher level. It is clear that tribal learners are not motivated well. They have adjustment problems with school curriculum and teaching of English language. Though the Government can provide grants and scholarships for the betterment of learners, the responsibility of their educational development are ultimately in the hands of teachers. The paper is based upon the pilot study conducted to understand the educational backwardness of tribal learners with special reference to English language. It describes the language learning problems of tribal learners and analyzes the causes of backwardness.

This paper deals with technical education growth, policies in pre and post independent India. The world is moving forward rapidly and positively, into an era where societies and economies are incrementally based on knowledge. The importance of nations in the 21st Century shall be judged not by their economic strength alone, but also by their power to conceptualize, innovate, invent and bring the benefits of these inventions to their people. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, new technologies like business management, pharmacy, and computer technology were developed. The Government emphasized the need for technical manpower to handle these organizations and directed the states to develop technical education on a fast track mode. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set-up in November 1945 as a national level apex advisory body and, later on, in 1987 it was given the statutory status by an act of parliament. Due to efforts and initiatives taken during successive Five Year Plans technical education witnessed tremendous growth in quantitative terms with the establishment of engineering colleges, polytechnics, Industrial Training Institutes and so on. But mere quantitative increase in the number of institutions imparting technical education will not help India in realizing her dream of establishing the knowledge society of the future.

ELT (English language teaching) in Spain is witnessing the arrival of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and English is changing from a goal-oriented school subject to a medium of instruction for content subjects. What is taking place in our system is influenced by what has previously happened elsewhere. Two research episodes have contributed to it: the Bangalore Project in India and the Canadian Immersion Program originated at the St Lambert School in Montreal. From the first one we learnt about the notion of task, as an innovative element for curriculum design at that time, and, consequently, about a new type of syllabus: the process syllabus. Task-based approaches and project-work founded its pedagogical principles on this type of syllabus. The Canadian Immersion Program has provided us with, at least, two psycho-pedagogical principles that are paramount in bilingual education: (a) the distinction between basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), and b) the principle of common underlying proficiency.

It is proposed to establish an Integrated Distance Education System in India by designing modern technology based information communication network, connecting all its ODL (Open and Distance Learning) institutions to the headquarters of the ODL system in India. The principle roles to be performed by such a system have been discussed; according to which it would enable, educate and empower every member of the academic community including distance learners so as to provide them quality distance education. The connectivity between the ODL institutions would be achieved through the use of VPN (Virtual Private Network) involving wireless networking and optical networking. Various benefits of providing VPN connectivity to the ODL institutions in India, such as cost effectiveness, security, and shared applications/services have also been discussed. Thus, the networking of all the ODL institutions in India would provide a national framework so as to build an excellent Integrated Distance Education System necessary for providing equity and quality distance education at national level. (Contains 4 figures.)

Education is an important aspect of human resource development. Imparting of education leads to the improvement of understanding, perception, attitude and efficiency of working population. Education has been considered as a lever to raise one's position in the society as well as a tool to fight against poverty and ignorance. Since the independence of India, several constitutional measures have been taken for educational enlistment of the SC (scheduled castes) and ST (scheduled tribes). Though educational achievement is open to all, it is not smoothly achievable as have been felt by the students. This paper highlights some of the constraints faced by SC and ST communities and it asks for urgent attention of the planners and policy makers to eradicate the constraints of the students of SC and ST. If this cannot be done, at least some discussion to draw attention to the fact may bring the issue at large. The main feature of the study is that it is based on empirical data. But the focus of the study is to show the problems of education of SC and ST. (Contains 5 tables.)