Paris

Boosting Demand for Social Sector Services

Government Spending in the Social Sector has been increasing over the years. In the financial year 2012-13, the government has spent Rs. 25,555 crores on its flagship education programme, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (1), Rs 33,000 crore on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (2), and Rs 20,855 crores on the National Rural … Continue reading "Boosting Demand for Social Sector Services"

Paris

The Case of the Missing Records

If you have ever visited a government office, you would have been astounded (like I was) to see numerous files stacked in dingy offices, gathering dust. Yet, there often appeared to be a method to the madness and if you requested for a file, it was easily pulled out. Despite this, in recent years there … Continue reading "The Case of the Missing Records"

Paris

Training volunteers for a survey

I am here in a district with two colleagues conducting a PAISA survey of the Mid-Day Meal scheme. The survey is long (28 pages long, to be precise) and we are looking at a number of variables regarding MDM funds, such as when do schools receive their funds, when do they spend it and how … Continue reading "Training volunteers for a survey"

Paris

Decentralised Education Delivery- Do GPs holds lessons for SMCs? Part 1

A theme that has been emerging on this blog in the past month has been the curious case of the School Management Committees (SMCs) – the last but crucial leg of the quality education marathon. Laina Emmanuel and Yamini Aiyar(1) have discussed both problems and solutions to the problems that the SMCs face, namely those … Continue reading "Decentralised Education Delivery- Do GPs holds lessons for SMCs? Part 1"

Paris

Assessing Status of Schools through Composite Indices

If you have been tracking our work as we have been tracking development funds of the Indian government, you would have realized that it has been just about a year since we embarked on our ambitious survey to track fund flows in elementary education. Our district studies were based on a first crack at the … Continue reading "Assessing Status of Schools through Composite Indices"