Researchers Publication

The evaluation criteria proposed by CBSE is flexible enough to accommodate concerns of students. With the central government deciding to cancel the Class XII examinations a majority of state education boards and stakeholders welcomed the move in view of the safety of students and teachers. However the cancellation policy also introduced uncertainty on how students...   Read More

The United Nations’ “Policy Brief: The impact of Covid-19 on children” dated April 15 2020 was convinced that “Children are not the face of this pandemic.” This was also evident in India when the ‘first wave’ of Covid-19 hit the country. Scientists and experts were convinced that children were less susceptible as compared to adults...   Read More

No doubt the pandemic has exposed the fragility of India’s health sector. The shortage of doctors hospital beds ventilators oxygen medicine etc. is the stark reality of the day. The story is true across all over India. Incidentally none of the metros have stood apart in this pandemic disaster even though health infrastructure is quite...   Read More

Using tech to monitor river water quality real-time will help. India is a home to 4 per cent of the world’s freshwater resources and it ranks among the top 10 water-rich countries of the world. In spite of being home to the major river systems both perennial and non-perennial India is a designated water stressed region...   Read More

Children in households without piped water or LPG have lower learning outcomes. This negative impact is greater when women bear a greater share of the burden of unpaid work compared to men. Inadequate access to safe drinking water and clean cooking fuel leads to serious health concerns. The importance of safe water in preventing water-borne...   Read More

In response to recent concerns expressed by Indian industry about the ‘employability’ of school and university graduates, this paper examines the role of pedagogy in developing life skills (or 21st century skills) and how these can be incorporated in the school/university curriculum. In recent curricular frameworks, life skills have been incorporated within the school curriculum...   Read More

Educationists have had long debates on the efficacy of traditional forms of education versus vocational training. Even as India grapples with the challenges of improving the quality of primary and secondary education, there appears to be a policy shift in India, favouring vocational trainings that target the skill development of workers. This paper tries to...   Read More

These summaries were prepared on the basis of the interviews of various stakeholders involved in skilling from education to vocational training at firms and the assessment of skills.

Indian states are divergent in terms of pursuing their own economic policies linked to education, employability and employment. States significantly differ in terms of resource endowments, especially on endowments related to skill. This is reflected in the unequal distribution of educational capabilities, employability and skill intensity in workforce, employment and other key indicators. In effect,...   Read More

The answer to the question of how to vaccinate a billion Indians is perhaps to be found in basic economics. What is the most important health imperative as well as the most significant economic stimuli for India today? Unarguably it is Covid vaccination. We must remember that the story does not end with the strains of...   Read More

The East’s low may worsen the regional imbalance as the second Covid wave rages on. The NCAER Business Confidence Index (BCI) a measure of business sentiments fell for two consecutive quarters in 2019-20:Q4 and 2020-21:Q1 on a quarter-on-quarter basis. After the lockdown restrictions were withdrawn business sentiments recovered in a V-shaped form in 2020-21:Q2 and then...   Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have had a significant adverse impact on jobs and livelihoods. Using 2006-2021 data from a quarterly survey on business sentiments this article examines fluctuations in firms’ hiring of temporary/casual and permanent workers across three major economic events – the Global Financial Crisis demonetisation and the Covid-19 crisis. It shows...   Read More