Efforts to make learning more interactive and more fun for students appear promising, but it may be too soon to judge if they are positively impacting children's performance in standard tests and surveys. Meanwhile, teachers complain that these efforts have added to their already heavy burden. Padmalatha Ravi reports.

Vocational training could play a key role in bridging the gap that keeps millions of workers in the unorganised economy away from a better future. The needs of informal sector workers are complex, and mere training for income-generation is seen to be insufficient, writes Varupi Jain.

With the central government lobbing the ball into the states' court, the right to education bill has practically lost its very essence. Without a central legislation to support it, a constitutional guarantee will have little meaning, say most experts. Deepa A concludes the 'Lens on Education' series.

This northern most district of Bihar, bordering Nepal, has hordes of dalit hindu and muslim children working at hotels and restaurants in violation of a statutory order prohibiting such work. Everything from education policy, to law enforcement, to rehabilitation has been messed up, finds Rahul Ramagundam.

In a number of dalit settlements in Gaya, Bihar, there are school structures but no teachers. In some places, where there are both, as in Parariya village, the dominant Yadavs make intrusive and insulting remarks that do not provide a facilitating environment. Rahul Ramagundam reports.

School authorities say, and records show, that while enrolment has not been substantially improved as a result of mid-day meal programmes, school attendance has certainly gone up by 10-12%. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement in the management of the scheme. Padmalatha Ravi reports.

Since the introduction of the central government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme, enrolment numbers in schools have gone up. But how reliable and meaningful are the enrolment figures? Deepa A uncovers key indications of things having gone wrong in SSA's quest for targets.

The government-run vocational training system in India has a total annual training capacity of about 28 lakh (2,800,000) students. But most curricula 'followed' at institutes imparting vocational training have little relevance for wage or self-employment. Varupi Jain reports on the macro-picture.

An innovative program of education for young children achieves the twin objectives of encouraging more Muslim families to send their girls to school, as well as giving the teachers a greater sense of autonomy over their own lives. Malvika Kaul reports on the Mother-Teacher Programme, and its empowering effect in a Jaipur slum.

The Assam government has claimed credit for the rise in pass percentages in high schools in recent years. But, reports Ratna Bharali Talukdar, a closer look at the numbers shows there is still much room for improvement in state-funded education in high schools and colleges.

In Karnataka, job-training programmes are on offer at number of institutes, and yet, students unable to make it into college are not lining up in large numbers. Ironically, a manpower crunch exists across industries at the entry level, placing employers in a bind. Padmalatha Ravi digs deeper.

The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme - instituted under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2005 to ensure access and quality elementary education (Class 6-8) to girls disadvantaged by gender and socio-economic reasons - has opened new doors hitherto closed because of discrimination and poverty have opened for girls in UP. Swapna Majumdar has more.

When a teacher specially trained to handle children with special needs started work at a local government school in Bangalore, children were benefited and stopped dropping out. Padmalatha Ravi has more.

Meghalaya's vocational training system, despite being funded by New Delhi as well as the state government, has two problems. One, there is dearth of adequate number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI). Two, the placement record is poor and does not generate demand. Ratna Bharali Talukdar finds out what went wrong.

A remote school with no electricity, in an area full of other institutions that don't fare well. Why does the Swastik school in Godbhanga village in Orissa perform so much better than others in the district? Ranjan K Panda observes that it is led by someone who perseveres, and all its achievements can be traced to this simple fact.

In one of development's pampered districts in Orissa, chamar children are still polishing shoes, some even as they are supposedly schooling. Special economic packages are helping only a little here, and academic performance and serious rehabilitation remain abysmal, finds Ranjan K Panda.

For scores of students in Assam's primary schools, cooked food served in school under the Midday Meal Scheme is an attraction. Headmasters vouch for its impact in increasing attendance, but point to several challenges in making the scheme work statewide. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.