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This paper applies Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as well as data analysis to gain a better understanding of the existing perception on the education system. 45,278 tweets were downloaded and processed. Using a lexicon-based approach, examining the most frequently used words, and estimating similarities between terms, we detected that a predominantly negative perception of the education system exists in most of the analysed countries. A positive perception is identified in certain low-income nations. Men exhibit a more positive sentiment than women as well as a higher subjectivity in some countries. The countries that exhibit the most positive perceptions India, Canada, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and Kenya are also those that manifest the highest subjectivity.

This article offers an interconnected, grounded understanding of how two Gandhian endeavours in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, make us rethink the notion of "education" in terms of civic and communal engagement. Drawing on local, vernacular ways of living, learning, being, reasoning, and believing--in this case Gujarati--I show how these endeavours engage in civically minded projects in the wake of two devastating events in the city, namely a massive earthquake in 2001 and horrendous Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002. The exploration is intended to not only move us all toward rethinking traditional notions of "education," but toward offering insights into how critical practice functions in non-Western contexts.

In this paper, using the "2005-2006 National Family Health Survey" dataset from India, we study the likelihood of a school-age child working, combining work with schooling or being idle, rather than attending school full time. Our analysis finds that with the inclusion of household chores in the child labour definition, boys are significantly more likely than girls to be full-time students and significantly less likely to be working, being idle or combining school and work. There are also significant regional differences, with children from the north-eastern states significantly more likely to be in the idle category rather than in school. The likelihood of being in the idle category is also significantly higher for older children, children with pre-school age siblings, urban children, Muslims and children from Scheduled Tribes. Finally, parental education, household wealth and land ownership are significantly and negatively correlated with the likelihood that the child is working, but land ownership does increase the risk of a child combining work and schooling.

The impact that information technology can have on development is the subject of an ongoing debate. Central to this debate is the role of universities. Education shapes people's attitudes toward technology and determines how it will be used. This research shows that in India, students at higher educational institutions are socialized to believe that information technology can have a very positive impact on their country. They do not share the skepticism commonly found in Western literature. This research finds that first and foremost, IT is seen as a tool for personal development, where students can leverage their education to become rich and successful, either in India or abroad. Second, IT is seen as a tool for Indian ascension, lifting India to the status of a great global power. Only thirdly is IT seen as a means to assist in the development of India's poor population. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]