Changing Framework of Local Governance and Community Participation in Elementary Education in India

In recent years, strengthening and better functioning of local governance have become prime concerns of educational reform agenda. Establishment of effective local governance has been part of overall changes in educational governance for several years in many countries including India. It is now widely recognized that effective local governance considerably impacts on access to education as well as the enrolment, retention and learning experiences of children in school. It is in this context, that this paper provides an overview of the changing framework of governance of elementary education and community participation in India with a special focus on its role in improving the participation of children. An attempt has also been made to examine the extent to which grassroots level functionaries and local bodies like panchayat and VEC are able to get involved in decision making processes and different approaches that have been taken by different states in regards to local governance of education. Drawing references from recent efforts made by different states, the paper has tried to establish a link between effectiveness of local governance and issues regarding access, equity and quality of school education. While discussing the changing framework of local governance, the paper critically examines the guiding principles of governance reform from two perspectives. ‘Top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches are discussed, in terms of ensuring the effectiveness of the system and empowering people for active participation in decentralized decision making process

Protecting Privacy in Indian Schools: Regulating AI-based Technologies' Design, Development and Deployment

Education is one of the priority areas for the Indian government, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are touted to bring digital transformation. Several Indian states have also started deploying facial recognition-enabled CCTV cameras, emotion recognition technologies, fingerprint scanners, and Radio frequency identification tags in their schools to provide personalised recommendations, ensure student security, and predict the drop-out rate of students but also provide 360-degree information of a student. Further, Integrating Aadhaar (digital identity card that works on biometric data) across AI technologies and learning and management systems (LMS) renders schools a ‘panopticon’. Certain technologies or systems like Aadhaar, CCTV cameras, GPS Systems, RFID tags, and learning management systems are used primarily for continuous data collection, storage, and retention purposes. Though they cannot be termed AI technologies per se, they are fundamental for designing and developing AI systems like facial, fingerprint, and emotion recognition technologies. The large amount of student data collected speedily through the former technologies is used to create an algorithm for the latter-stated AI systems. Once algorithms are processed using machine learning (ML) techniques, they learn correlations between multiple datasets predicting each student’s identity, decisions, grades, learning growth, tendency to drop out, and other behavioural characteristics. Such autonomous and repetitive collection, processing, storage, and retention of student data without effective data protection legislation endangers student privacy. The algorithmic predictions by AI technologies are an avatar of the data fed into the system. An AI technology is as good as the person collecting the data, processing it for a relevant and valuable output, and regularly evaluating the inputs going inside an AI model. An AI model can produce inaccurate predictions if the person overlooks any relevant data. However, the state, school administrations and parents’ belief in AI technologies as a panacea to student security and educational development overlooks the context in which ‘data practices’ are conducted. A right to privacy in an AI age is inextricably connected to data practices where data gets ‘cooked’. Thus, data protection legislation operating without understanding and regulating such data practices will remain ineffective in safeguarding privacy. The thesis undergoes interdisciplinary research that enables a better understanding of the interplay of data practices of AI technologies with social practices of an Indian school, which the present Indian data protection legislation overlooks, endangering students’ privacy from designing and developing to deploying stages of an AI model. The thesis recommends the Indian legislature frame better legislation equipped for the AI/ML age and the Indian judiciary on evaluating the legality and reasonability of designing, developing, and deploying such technologies in schools

Educational accountability of faculty and students in Higher Education: A prospective policy analysis

The purpose of this research is to examine the current quality assurance and accountability policies and practices in Egyptian public higher education institutions. It specifically examines the perceived effectiveness of pedagogical and assessment practices on students’ learning and institutional performance. The paper seeks to analyze the current challenges to propose a new policy to promote accountability of faculty and students. This qualitative research paper follows what Patton (2002) termed “prospective policy analysis”. Participants were selected using the purposive sampling technique. Fifty-one participants comprised the sample of the study. They were chosen from two accredited programs in two public universities in Greater Cairo. A Humanities program was chosen from University X; and an Engineering program was chosen from University Y. Two department heads, twenty faculty members and twenty-nine undergraduate fourth year students were involved in the study. Data was collected over the period of two weeks through semi-structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. Data was analyzed using the thematic approach. Findings revealed many faculty members and students confirm that the current policies and practices are not effective. They have identified that large students numbers as one of the major challenges. Based on Delphi technique, the recommended prospective policies are “accountability policy for professors”, “new admission policy” and “reforming assessment practices”

Real-Time Systems: Reflections on higher education in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia

Real-time systems (An ICT definition)\ud In real-time multiprocessing there is the extra requirement that the system complete its response to any input within a certain critical time. This poses additional problems, particularly in situations where the system is heavily loaded and is subject to many\ud simultaneous demands. Real-time systems are always dedicated. Most systems are not real-time

Education and Social Equity With a Special Focus on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Elementary Education

The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are among the most socially and educationally disadvantaged groups in India. This paper examines issues concerning school access and equity for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities and also highlights their unique problems, which may require divergent policy responses. The paper is divided into seven main parts. The first two sections introduce the reader to the nature of exclusion and discrimination faced by Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and outlines the debate on the role of education in improving the socio-economic profile of both groups. The third section explains the socio-economic conditions within which Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes live and their marginalized status in contemporary India. The fourth section provides a discussion of literacy advancement among these groups, and of national policies and programmes which aim to improve school access and equity. The fifth section highlights special efforts made by certain state governments to improve educational participation of these two communities as well as the educational experiments on a more modest scale undertaken by community based Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The sixth section focuses on casteism as a deeply ideological issue that undercuts even the most genuine reform measures, and suggests research and policy options that may help to address underlying structural and ideological issues. The concluding section highlights a few critical areas for further research in the area

Conquering the digital divide: with a digital native who never was

As higher education moves to blended learning environments, a digital divide is emerging in the Australian higher education sector. This divide is predicated on differing digital skills and usage patterns, not access to digital devices. Access is not perceived to be the issue as numerous Australian secondary schools offer a school-issued laptop scheme. Yet many students transitioning to university are grappling with the necessary digital skills required to participate in a digital setting. Referred to as "digital natives", these young people were expected to be digitally proficient. This thesis challenges the existence of Mark Prensky's (2001) Digital Native and provides an analysis of how differing digital fluency stages influence perceived preparedness for university study. Conceptualising the growing inequalities arising from a widening digital divide, the thesis investigates impacts on the student experience, digital fluency and secondary schooling digital opportunities. The thesis reports on three studies drawn from three research questions. Using a mixed-mode approach centred on Critical Theory and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the thesis provides an analysis of the digital divide in Australian higher education. Study 1 reports on RQ1: "What is the relationship between socioeconomic, sociocultural/ geographic indicators and the digital divide?" Four hundred and nine first-year business students were surveyed at regional and urban Australian universities. This study provides empirical data on the digital divide and determines a link between digital fluency, socioeconomic status, sociocultural capital, digital identity and student self-reported preparedness and digital skills. Study 2 reports on RQ2: "Is digital fluency a precursor to preparedness for university study?" Fifteen of the surveyed respondents completed a digital test with usability testing software prior to an in-depth interview. Study 2 provides a link between access and application of digital environments in schooling and the development of digital fluency. This study presents data showing disadvantage indicators can be alleviated through access to digital learning environments during schooling. Study 3 reports on RQ3: "What enhances and develops digital fluencies?" and examines the digital divide from a student's perceptive. Case studies were developed from in-depth interviews and presented as techno-biographies to determine respondents' digital fluency stage. These techno-biographies outline differing experiences and opportunities for digital skills development between secondary schools. Study 3 explores prior digital experience to identify digital influences, skills, knowledge, attitude and mindset. The study suggests that influences and prior digital experiences contribute to digital fluency and perceived preparedness for university study. The three studies are intertwined in their investigation of an association between disadvantage indicators, prior digital experience and stages of digital fluency. Particular attention is placed on examining the distribution and allocation of digitally resourcing in secondary schools. The three studies culminate in a concept model to illustrate the link between the distribution of resources, digital fluency and preparedness for university study. The thesis demonstrates a link between access to a learning management system (LMS) or digital curriculum during secondary school and disadvantage indicators. Access to a school LMS consistently produced higher self-reported digital skills than those without, even when disadvantage indicators were present. The issue of perceived preparedness for university study and/or a digital learning environment was also linked to participants who had access to a school LMS. Rural, regional, low socioeconomic, low sociocultural capital and state-school participants were less likely to have had access to a digital curriculum during secondary schooling and therefore less likely to report preparedness for university study. Conversely, these disadvantage indicators were overcome if participants had access to an LMS or digital curriculum. The thesis identifies a digital divide in higher education emanating from the distribution, use and allocation of secondary schooling digital resources and prior experience. The resourcing of secondary schools with school-issued laptops did not increase digital fluency or perceived preparedness for university study. However, the implementation of a digital curriculum or LMS produced significant outcomes in the development of digital fluency. These findings illustrate the influence of digital immersion in the formation of fluency. Resourcing schools without a clear digital curriculum does not increase digital fluency. If the digital divide is to be conquered, the appropriate application of digital resources in secondary schools must be implemented to enable the development of digital fluency

Towards Enhancing Academic Standards And Ethical Professionalism At Public Universities.

Institutions of learning particularly universities in Africa have been experiencing some challenges. Here in Kenya these challenges include lack of funds (cash straps), poor management of resources, appointment into positions of power men and women not well trained in leadership and management thus lacking in skills required to run those institutions. At times these institutions are affected by strikes based on the staff or student unions’ demands. The elevation of various technical colleges into university status in the last few years coincided with a period of rapid expansion in the university expansion in Africa. This has been due to demographic and political pressures that had developed from the years of colonial and previous regimes neglect. Demographically and during the last decades, university education was perceived to be a preserve of a few and most those who supported the status quo of some dictatorial and tyrannical government. Hence these institutions were being built in those areas where the political class had a wide range of followers.  In recent times most African states have had political and economic transformation and as such university education has been liberalized to the extent that almost every country has its own university. It is during this time most private and public universities have emerged. The expansion has taken place at a time when drought, ethnic tension and overall decline in the macro-economic sector, have had negative effects even on the government to be able to finance these institutions. These challenges have really affected the productivity level of public universities as some of their employees have resulted to “moonlighting” and some joining the private sector altogether due to attractive payment. One can easily observe that the impressive expansion of the student enrolments in these institutions has been achieved without a proportionate rise in resources. The most applicable and relevant question would therefore be whether public universities’ rapid expansion has exceeded their capacity to sustain quality education thus making the graduates to give back to the community. Have our public universities been able to produce job-creators instead of job seekers? This article highlights some of the challenges and threats to better education and research and proposes few ideas that could be applied to assist public universities maintain their reputation and their n level of academic professionalism. Key Words: ENHANCING, UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, STANDARDS AND PROFESSIONAL ETHIC

Exploring Access and Equity in Malaysia’s Private Higher Education

Private higher education institutions (PrHEIs) are utilized to complement public provision due to financial constraints faced in public provision. However, increasing private provision has raised interesting questions as to who gets educated in these PrHEIs. Is increasing private supply enlarging the circle of opportunity to reach those who might otherwise have been unable to enter university or college? In other words, has the explosion in private supply translated into greater inclusion or increased exclusion? This paper explores access and equity issues in Malaysia’s private higher education system. Malaysia is an interesting case study due to the significant presence of PrHEIs in the country and their contribution toward student enrolment. The findings show that the Malaysian government has provided considerable financial support for the development of PrHEIs in the country, through the provision of incentives, subsidized loans, and scholarships. Quality assurance efforts further enhance the development of private provision, as student loans and scholarships are only provided for students on accredited programs. Therefore, PrHEIs have widened access and equity in the country with the help of government support. Despite this, Malaysia’s model of providing access and equity through private provision may be unsustainable, due to the poor repayment record of student loans and the economic need to reduce the fiscal deficit of the government.malaysia education; higher education; private higher education

The rhetoric and reality of equitable access to higher education in the Anglophone Caribbean: Transforming vision into action

This study is about access to higher education (HE) in the Anglophone Caribbean. It seeks to answer two questions: what rhetoric is evident in current policies that guide access to higher education in the Anglophone Caribbean? And what is the reality of how policies and practices impact access to higher education opportunities for students? These questions are answered through an equity-focused lens. The study used a sequential mixed-method design and the research was conducted in three phases. Phase one was an analysis of extant documentation on existing policies and practices for twelve Anglophone Caribbean countries. Phase two comprised a series of interviews with government officials and higher education officers about their conceptualizations and perceptions of equitable access to HE. In phase three, an online student survey was organized to compare the experiences of students across the region in accessing HE and to examine their perceptions about the policies and practices guiding access. The findings of this research reveal a region-wide deficit in data management, program and policy implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, the existing policy documents include mostly implicit references to equity of access to HE. Further findings reveal that while there is ample provision for HE across the region, fair access to those opportunities is still a challenge. The major barriers to access perceived by students and education officials are HE funding, HE cost and related expenses, access for persons with disabilities, and rural/remote access. Equity groups most affected are those with low socio-economic status (SES) and first generation in higher education students (FGHEs). Variables NOT perceived as barriers to HE access in the region were gender, race/ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation and cultural/linguistic background. These findings are discussed in the context of the Caribbean’s ongoing development

Globalisation and Skills for Development in Rwanda and Tanzania

International Development,