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In the last two decades, with increasing
efforts at achieving Universal Elementary
Education, elementary education has begun
to receive unprecedented attention from
government and civil society organisations.
Significant improvements have been made
in improving access to primary education,
which is reflected in achieving near 100-per
cent enrollment and availability of primary
schools within a kilometre radius for 94
per cent of the children. While this is
impressive, the real challenge lies in ensuring
quality, by making elementary education
accessible, enjoyable and meaningful for
every child, as well as making the institution
of schooling sensitive to the developmental
needs of children and firmly connected with
the local community.
Education has been one of the key areas
of grant making for the Trusts, since their
inception. In 2004-05, the Trusts commissioned
a comprehensive external review of its education
portfolio by a team of leading educationists.
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| Geographical
spread of projects |
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The review
stressed that: |
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Elementary
education is a poorly developed discipline
and hence the Trusts should focus on
developing the field |
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The Trusts should continue to focus
on institution-building in the area
of elementary and higher education and
enhance the linkage between the two |
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The
Trusts should focus on systemic reform
of elementary education, by focusing
on key gap areas and entering into partnerships
with the government. |
Based on the inputs received from the review
in identifying key gap areas in the sector
and critical assessment of performance of
the portfolio, the Trusts reorganised their
education portfolio into the following sub-themes:
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